


The New Kid

by Daenseu



Category: The Maze Runner (2014), The Maze Runner Series - James Dashner
Genre: Dysfunctional Family, Fluff, Gay probs, M/M, Smut, Tominho, thominho - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-29
Updated: 2015-01-28
Packaged: 2018-02-19 05:43:22
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 50,615
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2376902
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Daenseu/pseuds/Daenseu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A High School AU where The Maze Runner is an annual event that is considered to be a major sport. Each year, students from different schools compete in labyrinth that changes form every single year.<br/>Thomas is the new kid in town who just wants to go back home. But everything changes when he spotted a certain athlete down the hall.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. First Day

**Author's Note:**

> Hey all!  
> Just watched The Maze Runner movie and good god it was amazing. Even more amazing is the fact that I came out of the movie with a burning OTP tattooed onto my soul.
> 
> This fic will be a Thominho oriented fic (hah if you couldn't guess). This fic was inspired by bleep0bleep's High School AU fic!  
> Read it here:  
> http://bleep0bleep.tumblr.com/post/98166192020/reborngp-but-where-is-the-au-where-thomas-is
> 
> I only watched the movies, so my depiction of the characters may not be super accurate. But I bought the book and Im halfway through it so worry not friends! I'll try to keep everyone as ic as possible and if they aren't well... fuck.
> 
> This is also completely unedited, so mistakes are like... certain lol. So sorry about that.
> 
> Thank you guys :D Hope you enjoy

Thomas was shaking. He felt nauseated, dizzy, and there was a drum beating relentlessly in his head. _Is this normal_? He thought silently to himself. He grabbed a fistful of his shirt as he stared anxiously out his window. Everything looked so foreign. The street, sidewalk, the houses, the people… even the grass seemed slightly different as he zipped past them. He could hear his mom ask if he was feeling alright in the background, something that took him a few moments to actually register. He mumbled a ‘yes’ that even he could barely hear himself.

The car ride was silent for the most part, and thank god for that. Thomas had a feeling that if he opened his mouth, a stream of ‘no-nos’ would come pouring out of his mouth. Ugh he felt like shit. It was only until he could see the makings of a large, brown building slowly forming in the distance did his mom begin to make more of an effort to talk to him.

“I know this is hard… but it’s for the best,” she said. Thomas could feel her eyes on him from the top-view mirror. He shrugged. He was done with this conversation honestly. They’ve had it too many times, and Thomas learned that no matter what he said or what he did in defiance, it wouldn’t change a thing. He was tired. He didn’t get a wink of sleep last night. That coupled with the intense, aching wave of nausea and anxiety did not make for a very happy morning.

He didn’t feel too much better when he stepped out of his mom’s car, his foot cautiously feeling the foreign pavement under it. He closed the car’s door shut before his mom could say anything, slung his backpack behind him, and began to walk towards his new school. He didn’t know how he was walking without heaving over, but he somehow managed. He heard his mom drive away slowly, and he instantly felt lonelier than ever.

He looked around him, trying to at least get used to his new surroundings. He watched large crowds of teenage guys walked past him, all of them laughing and smiling, some of them walking in large groups and some in smaller more intimate compact ones. He already felt like the odd one out, being the only one in this stupid school who felt absolutely miserable.

He was scared. He felt himself shake slightly with every step he took as he reached the entrance to his new school. His eyes glanced over the huge, silver font above the door. _James Dashner International High School_ , he read.

He continued into the school, feeling somewhat intimidated by the school’s large, expansive hallway. The place looked meticulously clean too. He shuffled out his planner that he got from the weekend orientation. _Well, look’s like my Homeroom’s right down the hall_.

With the planner in hand, he proceeded down the hall when, suddenly, a figure, a guy to be more precise, appeared from the corner of his eyes. Thomas blinked a few times at the dude. The other male was taller than he was, bigger, tanner and… well… Asian. Thomas watched as he approached another guy, a blond one, and gave him a bro-pound. They laughed about something, and Thomas noted how cute he looked. Not just that but he was built too, his shirt looked just a size too small on him, which exaggerated his arms and pecs. Eventually Thomas walked passed him and the blond guy, his grip on his planner tightening slightly.

When he reached his Homeroom, he plopped himself on the nearest, available seat, and covered his face with the palms of his hands. He could hear the murmurs of his peers around him.

“Hey check out the new guy.”

“The Greenbean be lookin’ mighty green if ya ask me.”

“He’s kinda cute, don’tcha think?”

“Dude look’s like he’s gonna chuck it…”

How was he supposed to react to that? He uncovered his face and looked around the classroom, trying to find out who said what. But when he did, everyone seemed to have returned to talking about whatever-the-shit they were talking about before in their own little group of friends. Feeling pretty idiotic-looking with him staring at everyone and their troupe of pals, he turned around to face the board, instead seeing a plump, round face staring straight back at him.

“Wuh!” He jumped in his seat. To his surprise, the other guy also jumped back with a shout.

“Holy shucks! Don’t scream like that!” He said, seemingly unaware of the fact that he was screaming now too. Thomas could once again feel eyes on him, as stared at the plump boy in front of him.

“Me? Did you even hear yourself?” Thomas spat back, somewhat annoyed with the hypocrisy.

“Ey ey, no need to get so defensive,” the plump boy said with a grin. “I’m Chuck by the by, and what’s your name, Greenie?”

“Greenie?”

“...Uhm you sure about that?”

“What?”

“What?” The boy asked with his head tilted to the side. Thomas could feel his eyes twitching slightly, as the plumpster began to talk some more. “Boy, you dumber than a sack of shucks, I just wanna know your name.”

“My name. Is. Thomas.” He said slowly, and concisely, to show his annoyance. “I was asking what you meant by Greenie but…” Thomas sighed. “...I think I got it. More or less.”

Chuck laughed. “Dawh, don’t worry Greenbean, it’s not that bad being a Greenie! I was a Greenie myself once. Like last year, second semester if you wanted the specifics. It was pretty scary at first, I mean being the new kid is always hard and shucks but like--”

Thomas blinked a few times at his new companion. Holy fuck he knew how to talk. And what the fuck was a ‘shuck?’ The place was feeling stranger and even more foreign by the second.

Suddenly the door flung open and, to his surprise, the very same Asian guy and his blond companion came through the door with several other unfamiliar faces. Wow, what were the odds?

Thomas’s eyes trailed him, ignoring Chuck’s speech and crazy hand gestures. Unbeknownst to the plumpster, the tanned guy was right behind him when one of his hand came into contact with his face.

“Eee!” Chuck shouted, again, as he spun around and spat several hundred apologies.

The guy squinted at him. Or was it a glare? Thomas couldn’t really tell.

“Frickin’ newbies,” The taller, tanner guy muttered, as he rolled his eyes. He and the rest of his group scattered across the room, ignoring Chuck and his motor mouth. Wow, rude much? Thomas felt his initial attraction towards him fade, which he gladly accepted. He was pretty done with getting crushes. Better to remain single your whole life. Especially when you’re gay and having other people find out about your gayness meant being beaten to a pulp more than half the time. Yup, it was better this way.

“Wow, he is so cool,” Thomas heard Chuck mumble in admiration and was frankly shocked by it.

“What? Him?” Thomas said, somewhat disgusted that a snarky bastard like him inspired respect around his peers. Sounds like a typical bully.

“Nonono! You don’t understand! He’s a Runner! One of the leaders of our school’s Maze teams! One of the Top _Gladers_! The coolest most awesomest--!”

“Ah, so he’s just another one of those over-hyped sporty tropes,” Thomas said, a little too loudly. He immediately regretted saying what he did, and glanced over to the Asian guy who sat on the other side of the room as him. Thankfully he seemed to be conversing with his troupe, and everyone else was too busy being loud with their friends to notice his and Chuck’s chat.

“No dude! He’s a part of the Gladers!” Chuck repeated. Thomas shrugged and saw Chuck’s shoulders slink. “Dude… what the shuck. Like what--”

Suddenly a light bulb of realization flashed in Chuck’s eyes.

“Ahhh, of course! You’re a Greenbean… you have no idea about it!” He said with a laugh.

“Know about what?” Thomas asked, feeling somewhat aggravated about being called a Greenbean.

“About the Maze.”

“Well yea I guess I don’t,” Thomas said. As the words rolled out of his tongue, a wave of curiosity brushed over him. _Maze huh? What was that? Some sort of… sport? Sounds more like the name of a Math Team or something…_

“What about this Maze?” Thomas asked, his curiosity piqued.

Just as Chuck was about to answer, the classroom door flung about with a huge boom. Chuck shrieked again in surprise for the 3rd time, which resulting in a few menacing giggles from their peers.

“It is 8 o’clock and Homeroom is now in session,” the teacher announced as she walked, methodically, into the room.

“Ah shucks. I’ll tell ya later,” Chuck said, recollecting himself. “Meet me in the caf at lunch ‘kay?”

Thomas didn’t get a chance to respond as Chuck scrambled his way to his seat, which was a few seats behind his.

“Now class, I’m sure you are all aware, but we have a new student in our midsts. I know we don’t get new students very often, and the fact that we have a new one in such a short amount of time is… odd, we still must make it our duty to make him feel welcomed and at home.” _Well great. Thanks a lot Miss… Thanks for putting me out in the spotlight like that._ Thomas remembered how Chuck said he was the ‘Greenbean’ last year. _Yea, Chuck definitely looked super welcomed and popular_ , he thought sarcastically to himself. Suddenly, the teacher’s icy gaze suddenly pierced Thomas’s eyes. “Will you please stand up to introduce yourself?”

 _Well fuck my life_. Thomas stood up, reluctantly and awkwardly. He turned around to face his peers in his seat, only to see very cold and judgemental eyes stabbing into his being. It made him shudder, and he could feel himself choking on his words. _C’mon man, just say your name_.

“Hello everyone, my name is Thomas. It’s uh… nice to meet you all.”

Thomas was met with an icy, uncomfortable silence. His looked at all his peers who seemed to be very displeased with his being here. He gulped. His gaze fell on Chuck, who was smiling at him. Thomas could feel himself smile back at him. Annoying and aggravating as he was… he wasn’t a bad guy. He was probably the only nice guy here in all honesty. When Thomas’s eyes met the Asian dude’s, he could feel his smile slowly fade. He was different than the others. While everyone else had this sour judgemental look in their eyes, the tanned male didn’t look like he was judging him at all. More like… he was quietly observing him. It took Thomas aback. He would’ve thought the Asian ‘Runner,’ or whatever Chuck says he is, would’ve had the harshest glare of them all.

Thomas could swear, their eyes were locked together in awkward stalemate for more than a few seconds. Eventually, the other broke their gaze and proceeded to look off in the corner of the wall.

“Thomas. I know you are new here, but next time when I tell you to stand up, I expect you to stand here in front of the class.” Thomas gulped. That wasn’t how they did things back in his old high school… _Way to tell everyone how foreign you are…_

Thomas muttered an apology, sat back down, and half-assedly listened to whatever the Teacher nagged on about. He was too busy thinking about other things. Like Chuck, and this Maze, and Runners and whatever the fuck the Gladers are. And that Asian dude. He never got his name… Well it shouldn’t matter, since the guy didn’t seem to be the friendliest of people. And honestly fuck that. Thomas shrunk into his seat and folded his arms across his chest. Fuck this school and everyone in it. Except Chuck of course. And fuck his mom for forcing him here in the first place. ‘Make new friends’ she says, as if it’s going to be that easy. Thomas spent his whole life in a single town in a single school. He never needed to make friends. They were always there… and know he had to start over but how could he? No one could teach him how. This whole thing was a delicate, all or nothing, sink or swim kinda thing. And judging by how his whole introduction went, and the eyes of his peers… he already sunk.

Lunch break eventually came around, and Thomas was immediately scouted out by Chuck the moment he stepped into the cafeteria.

The plump boy came charging at him with a paper bag in each hand.

“What’s up!?” Chuck asked as he happily bounded around the taller boy.

“I’m uh… alright.” Thomas replied. His feelings of nausea disappeared this morning after that Homeroom, and he felt less awkward by his 3rd class. It’s a start he supposed.

“Come on, follow me,” Chuck said, as he started off expecting Thomas to follow, which he did.

They found a small table, that was backed up in the corner of the cafeteria. Pretty isolated from everyone else… not that Thomas was complaining. He was pretty much sick of everyone here. He wanted to be back home with his friends.

Chuck sat down and gestured Thomas to do the same.

“Here here, I got you something,” Chuck said eagerly as he plopped one of the paper bags onto the table. “Hope you like Tuna!”

“I uh… already brought my own lunch from home.”

“Aww… well just take it anyhoo, it’s an extra after all.”

 _An extra_? Thomas watched Chuck as he dug into his own paper bag and took out his own sandwich. He began to devour the thing happily, with a silly, overstretched grin as he chewed. Thomas concluded that there could be no one alive who was happier than Chuck. Though… it made Thomas wonder… why would Chuck just so happen to have an extra bag of lunch anyways? He looked around the caf, noting how everyone seemed to be sitting in huge groups with six to eight people on a single table. _So those are cliques_. Thomas saw the tanned guy way off in the distance. As expected, his group was the largest, needing about two more tables to seat everyone. There were… what, over fifteen people? With so many people and with so many groups… it seemed odd that Chuck would choose to sit with the ‘Greenie.’ _Unless he doesn’t have anyone else. After all, didn’t he say he was a Greenie last year_? All of the sudden, Thomas began to understand why Chuck was so happy.

“Man, when I heard there was a new kid coming, I swear, I nearly klunked myself silly!”

Thomas shook his head, breaking his train of thought. “Wait what? You knew I was coming?”

“Yea! Rumors here spread faster than a donkey with a beehive on it’s woe-be-bottom!”

Thomas didn’t have anything to say to that. Explains why Chuck bothered to make an extra bag of food. Feeling somewhat ungrateful, Thomas opened the bag and took out the sandwich, which made Chuck’s smile stretch wider. Thomas swore he had an elastic mouth.

“So about that Maze…” Chuck started. Thomas was glad he didn’t have to bring up the question himself.

“Yea, you make it sound like some extreme sport or something.”

Chuck’s eyes glistened in excitement. “That’s ‘cuz it is!”

Thomas shrugged.

“See here,” Chuck began, “here in this town we have a traditional, annual event known as The Maze Runner. And basically what happens is the whole town builds this giant labyrinthian-like obstacle course thing! Each year the Maze changes, like last year… hoh man, last year was so sweet! Like there was this huge area within the maze that forced you to hop across this field of mud with small ass moving logs and it--”

“Alright alright, I get it. There’s a huge Maze event thing that happens every year, cool.”

“No you don’t get it!” Chuck pointed to the Asian guy’s group in the distance. “You see them? They’re the Runners. They run the Maze every year. And not everyone can do it you know, you have to get chosen to do it! Running the Maze requires strength, speed, smarts, agility, dexterity, and and… just a whole lot of klunk okay! Isn’t it like super cool! They literally have to be super humans just to get chosen to be a Runner! And not everyone in the group even gets to go. They choose the best out of that group of besties. Do you see how amazing it is now?”

Thomas hated to admit it, but he was sorta amazed. The way Chuck put it, you literally had to have been a war veteran or something to even join the Runners. It was the sort of untouchable challenge that Thomas found incredibly attractive.

“Well I guess it is pretty cool,” Thomas mumbled. Chuck shook his head.

“Not even!” Chuck pointed to the black haired guy. “You see that guy? That guy over there with the black hair! No not that one, _that_ one!”

“I know! I’m looking at him!” Nice as he was, Chuck knew how to be annoying sometimes.

“Yea yea him!” Chuck took a deep breath. “He’s Minho. And he’s the Runner that carried us to victory last year!

Thomas stared at the tanned Runner, still unconvinced of his ‘awesome-ness.’

“We’ve never won The Maze Runner. Not ever. Not since the school was built. We’re always the ones getting pwned and trampled on. Eventually this school just kinda gave up hope, and the hype about The Maze Runner really died off here. Kinda sad, since everyone else in town goes crazy over it… this school’s spirit just… klunked ya know? Then Minho got chosen to be a Runner and literally took home the gold. Isn’t that just shucking amazing?!”

“You sure know a lot about the school’s history for being a Greenbean last year.”

Chuck laughed, cheekily scratching his head. “Well I uh… heard stories ya know?”

Thomas couldn’t help but to laugh alongside him. He liked Chuck. He really did make him feel better about being in this school full of judgemental haters.

He glanced at Minho, who was busy laughing up a storm with his fellow Runners. Despite Thomas feeling slightly disgusted with the guy and his rudeness from before, he couldn’t help but to feel some sort of respect for him. It sounds like you really had to be the best of the best to compete in this… Maze Runner thing. That and Thomas had to admit… he looked damn fine.

“You think I can be a Runner?” Thomas asked all of the sudden. He wasn’t sure what compelled him to ask. He wasn’t even sure why he even wanted to be one. But… he just did. The concept of how untouchable it was to be a Runner attracted him. He may never get there and become one, but the urge to try was burning up in Thomas’s chest.

“You?! Pffft don’t even try. There are some hardcore athletes in the school that don’t even get considered man. You wouldn’t stand a chance.”

Thomas laughed, a wave of confidence suddenly washing over him. “Just watch me.”

 

 


	2. Gold Bringer Problems

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, so I wrote this next part as soon as I finished the last part and holy fuck Im way too crazy about this pairing.
> 
> This chapter's going to be in Minho's POV, and the next one will be in Thomas's POV for sure. The fourth chapter is still being brainstormed by moi and im not entirely sure whose POV it will be in. But it's gonna be either Thomas's or Minho's I can be certain of that.
> 
> I forgot to mention before that this fic features an older, High school ver of Chuck in case you couldn't figure it out before lolol.
> 
> Once again, this is like completely unedited. So mistakes are certain to be found. Sorry again D: But i dont exactly have anyone to edit for me, and editing the whole thing myself is such a bore (plus i have midterms and a whole mesh of other commitments).
> 
> In any case, I hope you like it :D

_Wow, the shank’s pretty cute_ , Minho thought silently to himself, with his arms folded across his chest, as he watched the Greenie introduce himself. Minho mentally shook his head. Cute, that’s all he is. He’s allowed to think people are cute right? Ain’t no crime or nothing. Well technically it is a crime here, since you can’t get shuckin' married to the same sex, but whatever.   _Thomas huh_? Minho’s eyes went all over the newbie’s body. His arms, shoulders, abs, waist… all of it. And when Minho’s eyes trailed on the Greenie’s face, he was surprised to see Thomas’s eyes staring into his.

 _What the shuck_. Minho’s first instinct was to break off eye contact immediately, but, for some god damn reason, he didn’t. The kid had soft, innocent, amber eyes that was glazed over with… something Minho couldn’t quite put his finger on. Determination? Bravery? Whatever it was, it made this Greenbean seem a lot tougher than what he physically looked like. He wasn’t exactly skinny, but he wasn’t exactly a gym junkie either. But, those eyes… man…

Minho waited for the other to break eye contact. He waited, and waited, and waited for what felt like an eternity. But the kid wouldn’t give in. _This Greenie better know that I ain’t letting up_. But as the stare continued on, Minho’s confidence wavered, something that even surprised himself. _What the shuck man, why are you getting scared and nervous over this beanstalk_? How long has it been? It couldn’t have been longer than a few seconds right? Anytime now. But Thomas wasn’t giving up, and eventually Minho did. _Shuck it_. The black haired boy broke off their fierce little battle and proceeded to stare off into the wall.

Minho’s hands, hidden under his arms, curled into fists. He just shuckin' lost to a beanstalk.

The next thing he knew, it was after school and Minho was in the school’s private gym, specifically made for the Runners. He felt his fist collide with the punching bag and mentally cursed his form. That was an embarrassment. _One more time_ , he told himself as he corrected his posture and made a nice clean hit right in middle of the bag. But then, right after landing the hit, his mind began to wander off forcing back the memory of the Greenie. And once again, as soon as that happened, his form fell apart.

Minho knew it was shuckin' stupid. It was literally just a bit of eye contact! Nothing to be distracted over. He let up first. So what. It didn’t mean anything.

He punched the bag again.

But then… what if the Greenie knew something?

Another punch.

Like what if somehow, in that one, single moment they had, the Greenie found out about him? Found out about his queerness. What if he somehow figured it all out? The Gaydar does exist doesn’t it? What if he’s talking about him right now? Talking to someone like: ‘Hey that Minho guy, he’s shuckin' gayer than a rainbow lollipop with sprinkles all over the damn thing.’

He threw everything he had into the next punch. He put in so much force that his right hand actually began to ache in pain, despite the protective leather that covered it. Well… guess that was it for the day.

 _C’mon man, this is shuckin' stupid. You’re putting way too much thought into this and you know it_. He sighed. He felt better at least. _Greenie doesn’t know klunk. You’re safe. They won’t know, and they never will_. Suddenly, Minho heard a slight rustle in the background. It was very subtle, a normal person probably wouldn’t have even picked up on it, but it was there.

Instinctively, the Asian spun around.

“What the shuck?!”

Thomas put his hands up awkwardly, freezing in place. He was hidden very strategically behind a cable machine that was near the door. _When did he…_?

“Uhh…”

“What the _shuck_ are you doing here?!” He was way louder than he anticipated, but hey could you blame him? He was surprised. Thomas seemed to be slightly taken aback from the boom of his voice. _Great now I sound angry_.

“I just got lost man, holy fuck calm down.”

 _‘Fuck?’ Seriously_? “Yea, that’s a load of klunk.” Minho saw the Greenie gulp, which more or less confirmed that he was right. _Got lost my ass_. Thomas opened his mouth to speak, but Minho cut in first. “Dude, you realize how much klunk you’re gonna get if they find you in here? This place is for the Runners. Didn’t you see the shuckin' sign?”

Thomas shrugged. “I just wanted to see this place, that’s all.”

“Well you saw it. Now get out shuck-face,” Minho spat. Truthfully, he didn’t intend to be as mean as he sounded, but the adrenaline, and frustration, from before still welled up inside him. That and the fact that Sir Beanstalk here just popped outta thin air right after he was thinking about him. His right hand still ached.

Thomas’s soft eyes sharpened into a glare. “Well excuse me Sir Min-hoe,” he said, his voice smothered in sarcasm. “Didn’t mean to breath the same air as you.”

“Shut your hole slinthead, you just don’t get it,” Minho snapped back. Despite the other’s obvious annoyance, Minho found his sarcasm to be pretty hilarious. “If anyone finds you here, they’d report ya and you’ll be pretty much dead after that. Kicked outta the school without any hope of ever returning.”

Okay, so it was obviously an exaggeration. At best the Thomas kid would receive a warning, maybe a detention or something. The next time might result in temporary suspension. The third well… yea. But, it was pretty shuckin' clear that this part of the school was completely off limits anyways. The sign on the door that opened into the hallway that led to this place explicitly stated that for starters.

“Are you going to report me?” Thomas asked, with a slight tinge of concern. Well that was cute. He actually believed Minho’s claim. It was to be expected he supposed, he was a Greenbean after all.

Minho shrugged and gave a smirk. “Dunno, it depends.” Minho saw the shoulders of the Greenie tense up. This is way too cute and fun. Thomas silently looked on the floor with a face full of defeat and a smidge of anger.

Minho placed his hands on his hips, before wiping off sweat beads that formed on his forehead not too long ago.

“Just go,” the tanned boy said, gesturing with his head towards the door. “And don’t ever come back here again you hear?”

Thomas nodded quickly and turned towards the door. The Greenbean was kinda adorable when he looked dejected. Well, the Greenie was just cute in general, as much as Minho hated to admit it. He was somewhat sad to see him go. Most likely this would be the first and last time he’d actually talk with him.

“Not without me at least,” Minho added, suddenly. _Wait what… why did I_ \--

Cold sweat began to form behind the back of the tall, dark skinned male. What did he just say? It came out so naturally that Minho didn’t even register his words until after he said it. The Greenie blinked a few times at him before asking, “what?”

Minho looked at the Greenie. He kept his face and stature cool and calm, as if he actually meant to say those words. His mind was whirring. “You deaf shank? I said you can’t come here ever unless you’re with me. Got it?” Minho had no idea what compelled him to continue this... offer. He slipped up.  _You got distracted bro. You got distracted by his shuckface._

Thomas’s face contorted into a look full of confusion and surprise. _Too cute, I can’t do this_. Minho swallowed a hard lump in his throat and looked to the side, trying to avoid looking at the Greenie’s face. _Why did I say that? It’s not exactly a promise I can keep._ Thomas seemed to catch onto the contradiction pretty quickly.

“But you just said that only Runners can come here.”

Minho shrugged, keeping his bravado and confidence. “Dude, you’re with _the_ Minho. They wouldn’t question klunk if you’re with me,” he said, slowly believing every word that escaped his mouth as he said it. _Yea, it’s all good. Practically the whole school worships me as a god. It’s all good_. But, a part of him knew the danger this impulse decision would bring him. God, what would Newt and Alby say? They’d lecture him for months if they ever found out. Breaking the rules was pretty much the ultimate disgrace among the Gladers. They’d go on about how keeping up with the rules was a ‘proof of trust’ and all that klunk. Even with his status as the school’s gold-bringer, it wouldn’t mean klunk if it meant he was a rule-breaker. He imagined his parents, enraged and filled with utter contempt and disgrace. He worked so hard to become a Runner in the first place, why the shuck did he do this.

“Okay,” Thomas said, breaking Minho’s train of thought. The Greenie sounded somewhat hesitant, as if he didn’t completely buy Minho’s story. Which was smart honestly. He liked that. People who can think for themselves are hot. People like Gally who go on the whims and opinions of other people aren’t. _Best to practice what you preach eh?_ He shook his head.

“C’mon, let’s go,” Minho said, reaching to the floor to grab his bag, slinging it over his shoulder. His shirt was sweaty and stuck to his skin uncomfortably in sweat.

“Uhh…” Thomas hummed, befuddled with the turn of events. Minho couldn’t blame him. He was literally snapping at him for being here not too long ago, and now he just said that as long as the Greenie was with him, he could practically stroll into the Runner’s Gym whenever Minho felt like it. “Don’t you have to… shower?” Thomas asked awkwardly.

“I can do that at home,” Minho said quickly. _Let’s just get out of here_. He gestured towards Thomas to follow him out the door. As they walked out together, a huge flood of questions poured into his head. Minho prayed that all the students left the school. It was pretty late, so he was sure they were the last ones left. But shuck… if they were found hanging together, that was just social suicide. Greenbeans are hated by everyone. The school was small and was from a tight-knit community. Everyone knew everyone, and Minho supposed that the concept of having someone new invade their personal little haven was unforgivable. Admittedly, Minho thought it was immature and downright stupid. But, it was just safer to go along with it rather than to change the whole system. If Minho was found with the Greenbean, Thomas, people are going to talk. Rumors are going to spread. Very damaging rumors. Minho remembered once, that someone was accused of buying crack from a Greenbean in the Middle School building. Needless to say, they were expelled on the spot. Minho couldn’t have that. His parents would abandon him in shame.

Then there was a fact that Thomas was a  _guy._ Minho assumed that if Thomas had been a girl, it would’ve been… not-as-bad. People’ll just assume that Minho was trying to get in her pants and that would be the end of that (still pretty horrible but it was, sadly, more socially acceptable at least). But… a guy? Minho can already see the nasty inclinations behind that. ‘Oh, did you hear? Minho’s been hanging with that guy again. That Greenbean. They so have a thing together.’ Terrible. That would cause a shuckin' social uproar. And if that wasn’t bad enough… Minho literally couldn’t imagine what his parents would do to him if they found out that he was actually gay. Just the thought of the rumour even reaching their ears terrified him. But it’s okay, no one will ever know. He just had to survive high school, graduate, and live a free, careless life of a gay man when he can finally support himself. That was the plan. That was always the plan. And no Beanstalk was going to ruin that no matter how cute he was.

 _Alright. I gotta break this off now_ , he thought to himself as they left the school building. Thomas had been awfully quiet, which was good. This would be easy. Minho spun around to face the Greenbean.

“Alright Gree--”

“So when are we--”

The two boys paused out of politeness to let the other speak. Awkwardly enough, they both paused at the same time, so in the end they spent another second or two staring at each other.

“Go ahead.”

“Sorry,” Thomas apologized. Once again they both spoke at the same time, which was pretty awkward in itself. It was even more awkward since Minho found the other to be pretty shuckin' cute. “So uh… you said I can use the Runner’s gym yea?”

“Yea.” _N_ _o_.

“And what, all I need to do is ask you if I can use it?” Thomas asked, his eyebrow raising. Looks like Thomas still didn’t buy the whole thing. Now’s his chance. Just tell him it was all a joke or something. Easy-peasy.

Minho looked at the Greenie, ready to play everything off as one big joke and to be done with it. He didn’t need this Greenbean. He already has friends. Honestly this Beanstalk’s just a pretty face. He has some smarts. He’s a bit funny, but still. Nope. It can’t ever happen. He’s probably straight as shuck anyways. _Even if you wanted it to happen, even if you truly and genuinely want it to happen, it just won’t_. C’mon just say it. It’s easy.

‘Haha no, I was just kidding ya shank. No way you can use it. Laters, hope to never see you again.’ He was so ready. He could taste the words rolling around in his mouth.

“... Yea, dude. You can.” Minho said, with a huge defeated sigh. _Shuck_.

Whatever happened next, Minho couldn’t recall very well. They said goodbye, and Thomas was beaming and hey that was cute and all, but Minho was too busy thinking about the shuckin' pile of klunk he just threw himself in. After Thomas left, Minho dropped his little bravado of confidence and rubbed his temples with his fingers. His posture drooped, and he practically had to drag himself home. _Shuck, shuck, shuck, shuck, shuck._

Once he got home he flung his bag to the side, stripped off his clothes, took a shower, plopped on his desk and put on his earphones. He listened to the music as he took out his books and homework for the night. He had to finish this quickly, since he had a tutor coming along in an hour or so. And after that he had to eat. And after that he had to pay respects for his deceased relatives and ancestors, more for his parents’ conscious and well being than anything. He didn’t know any of them after all.

But instead of doing his homework, Minho buried his head into the palms of his hands. What did he just do? What in the seven hells did he just do…?

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter won't come until the end of the week most like.
> 
> My tumblr is daenseu.tumblr.com if you wanna talk to me and shit and please do because I'm lonely lolol.
> 
> Anyhoo tell me what you like :D Or dislike waahahahaha


	3. Feelings Arise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New update!! The next update will be up at like... next week. I have 2 papers and a Midterm this week, but instead of doing that I ended up finishing this fanfic OTL
> 
> Remember how I said that this chapter will be in Thomas's POV? Well I sorta lied. Its in both Thomas's and Minho's POV lolol
> 
> As usual this is completely unedited so mistakes are certain.  
> Hope you guys like it though! :D

“Ey ey, so lemme get this straight,” Chuck said, with his mouth half-full of pasta. “You went to the Glader’s base even after I told you to _not_ go? And-and-and you got to meet _the_ Minho while you were snoopin’ ‘round?!”

Thomas smiled, shrugging slightly as he watched a few chunks of Chuck’s pasta fly out of his mouth. It was only the second day of school and Thomas was beyond grateful that he had someone he could actually call a friend, even if he knew how to outspeed a train with his speech.

“Well technically I went to their gym,” Thomas muttered.

“Same klunk! That whole area is Glader territory! You stupid as shuck for going in there man!” Thomas couldn’t tell if Chuck was angry at him, or excited over the fact that he actually snuck in. “And you met Minho! Argh! On your first day too!”

Thomas laughed, thoroughly amused with Chuck’s frustration. “I spoke to him too ya know,” he added with a wink in his voice. Needless to say, Chuck started to squeal in fangirl-ish frustration.

Ah yes, Minho. Thomas had mixed feelings about him. Very mixed. When he found out about Thomas’s little recon mission, he seemed pretty fucking mad. Not that Thomas could blame him. He wasn’t expecting a ray of sunshine and happiness for being caught breaking the rules. Then the next moment the guy’s all friendly and shit, saying he could use the gym as long as he’s with him. _And right after that he starts acting as if  I’m a burden or something. Like dude, you’re the one who offered…_

In fact, right before they said goodbye the other day, Thomas asked when the next time Minho would be heading to the gym so, you know, maybe he could tag along if it wasn’t too much trouble? Thomas remembered Minho giving him something that looked like a solemn glare, which took Thomas aback. The dude then scoffed and huffed out a ‘Tomorrow after school,’ and made no effort to talk after that. Thomas shuddered from the memory. Man that was awkward. So awkward, Thomas decided to pretend to leave and hid somewhere around the block. On the bright side though, that Minho guy is a fine piece of ass. Thomas didn’t realize just how good he looked until he was up face to face with him. Maybe it was the way the light seemed to curve around his muscles, or maybe the thin layer of sweat that made his skin glow, or maybe the way his shirt stuck onto his chest and abs. And that totally kissable face…

Thomas shook his head, ashamed of himself for thinking such things. _Wow, what the fuck?_ Hot as he was, he’s still pretty damn weird.

“Hey are you even listening?!”

Thomas blinked himself back into reality. He looked at Chuck who was staring back at him with such intensity, Thomas felt a twinge of guilt sprout in his stomach.

“Hah… sorry,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Bah, whatever,” Chuck said with a tiny pout, as he began poking at his pasta. “It’s fine. Just don’t tell me. I’m cool. I don’t need to know,” he said, clearly aggravated about something.

“Hm? Tell you what?”

Chuck groaned. “About what happened! Like… didn’t you get into shuckin’ trouble?”

“Oh.” Thomas could swear he heard Chuck mutter a ‘for shuck’s sake’ under his breath. “No, actually. Minho was cool enough to not to… uh, say anything.” Thomas paused. “Actually he told me I could go in whenever I felt like it, as long as he was around to watch me.” The words felt weird to him as he said it. _‘Watch me?’_ Now that he _really_ thought about it, he wasn’t sure if he was entirely comfortable with the idea of being alone with Minho. The guy’s too damn good looking. It was slightly intimidating. Plus he’s one of those popular kids that Thomas never really got along with. What if Thomas ended up popping a boner while in the gym with the other? Wouldn’t that be a fucking hoot?

Thomas sighed. He felt an urge to bail on their little meeting after school swell up in his tummy. That would be for the best though wouldn’t it? Thomas didn’t want to go through another ‘crush’ episode. There was no point in denying it. Minho was hot, and Thomas was already physically attracted to him. He didn’t want to get to know the taller male. He didn’t want to be friends with him. He didn’t want to have that little crush form from their friendship, only to have his feelings smashed to a million pieces when a facebook update tells him that he’s in some relationship with some girl Thomas has never met before. It’s happened too many times before, and Thomas was fucking sick of it. Why did he have to be gay? And why did Minho have to be fucking attractive and straight? Not that he had a chance even if, on the off chance, the dude was gay.

Well at least the guy was weird. It made it easier to not like him. Thomas wouldn’t know how he would feel about Minho if he was actually nice and had a consistent personality. Yea, it'll be alright. He can do this. Besides, if he wanted to be a Runner, he had to start working out asap.

“You know what? Just forget it,” Chuck grumbled. Thomas shook his head and forced himself back into reality.

“Ahh, sorry dude I was thinking about something.”

“Yea, I figured...” Chuck mumbled, obviously somewhat sour about being ignored. Thomas gave him a guilty, sympathetic smile.

“... You wanna go get ice cream?” Thomas asked, feeling as if he owed his pudgy companion for tolerating how much of a shit friend he is. “I’ll pay for you.”

Needless to say, Chuck’s face beamed in childish delight and affection, and all was forgiven in a blink of an eye.

  
  
  


“And where are you headin’ off to in such a hurry?” Minho felt something hard slap onto his shoulder, followed by a giddy laugh. “Got yerself a bloody date have we?”

“Bet it’s Brenda…” Alby added, a small hint of jealousy tainting in his voice. “I swear, that girl’s been checkin’ you out for a while now.”

“‘That girl?’ Don’t ya mean _every_ girl?” Newt retorted, nudging Minho’s arm with his elbow.

Minho shrugged, giving the other two the cockiest smirk he could make. “With guns like these can ya blame them?”

Newt and Alby began to laugh, as the trio made their way down the school stairs. It was 3 o’clock on the dot, and Minho was eager to lose his two friends in order to catch up with Thomas. Minho vaguely remembered telling him to wait by the bathroom at the end of the hall on the first floor. That area was always empty thanks to a couple of shuck rumours about a dead girl occasionally appearing in the mirror of the girl’s bathroom. It was the perfect meeting place.

“It is Brenda isn’t it? Aw man, I shuckin’ knew it, you lucky shank!” Alby ugh-ed, crossing his arms over his broad chest.

“Dude, chill. I ain’t going after yo girl,” Minho said, as he began walking faster, trying to break off from his two friends. Sad thing is the other two guys began speeding up as well, so the three ended up looking like a couple of dorks power-walking through the halls.

“D’you hear that? You got yerself a bloody chance!”

“Oh yea? If it ain’t Brenda then who is it?”

“Yo, I never said I was meetin’ anyone you fish-head,” Minho retorted, “just gonna go pump some iron is all.” Minho heard Newt scoff behind him.

“Already? Ya know we got a week before the real trainin’ begins yea?”

“Oh really? Gee I had no idea,” Minho remarked sarcastically.

“Ya work too hard man. Take a break sometime for shuck’s sake and eat a bloody kit kat.”

“Nah, Minny’s too good for kit kats.”

Minho spun around abruptly to face his two friends. Normally they had a group of people, who acted like they were familiar with them, tagging along their asses and thank god they weren’t here now.

“Look dudes, I just wanna burn off some steam, good that?” Minho half-lied. He tried to sound somewhat aggravated, in hopes his two buddies would get the picture and leave him alone so he could deal with the Greenbean without their noses, or anybody’s noses, all up in his business. _Maybe I sounded a bit too aggravated_ , Minho thought as he watched a wave of concern washing over Newt’s face.

“Yea… alright,” Newt said, understandingly. After a brief pause he continued: “...Everything okay at home?”

“Mom givin’ you klunk?” Alby added with an equal amount of concern hinted in his voice.

“Nah, it’s just one of those days,” Minho said, trying to sound as relaxed as possible for their sakes. _These two, I swear to god…_

Newt, Alby and him go way back. They were the first, and probably the last, people to know about his beef with his parents. Mainly his mom. His mom was one of those… very _very_ Asian parents, expecting nothing less than perfection from their child. His dad was more or less the same, but was, thankfully, a lot more flexible. Honestly, Minho couldn’t blame them for being so damn traditional as much as he tried. His parents grew up in klunk environments. They lived in the poorest of the poor neighborhoods and were the outcasts of their respective families. His mom was an accident. His dad was a bastard. His parents had no trouble reminding him of how they fought tooth and nail to be where they are now. Minho didn’t know the whole story himself, but he knew it was laced with immeasurable, probably unspeakable, hardships. Now his family was one of the wealthiest in the town, his mom being the owner of supermarket chain that is slowly branching all over the country. Meanwhile, his dad became a well known surgeon, specializing in cardiac surgery. Needless to say, it took a hell of a long time to get where they are now (his parents were almost in their 60s).

That, unfortunately, meant that Minho had to be a worthy son capable of achieving just as much, if not more, than his parents. It was shucking terrifying. Newt and Alby knew early on about his predicament, and did their damndest to always make sure he felt relaxed and jovial. Sweet as it was, it was pretty darn annoying being babied all the time.

“If you say so,” Newt said with a shrug, his observant, caring eyes still on him.

“Bah, our Minny’s a big boy now, he can take care o’ himself.”

“Yea, big is right,” Minho said with a smug grin, which resulted in some crude laughter. “Ima head on ahead now, catch you shanks later, good that?”

Newt and Alby nodded their heads, and went in the other direction. As they walked away, Newt turned his head around to get one last look at Minho, as if making sure that the tanned skinned male wasn’t hiding anything he shouldn’t be hiding. He hated it when Newt did that. It made him feel uneasy and vulnerable, even though he knew his blond buddy was just looking out for him.

Turning around, Minho walked to the bathroom where he was supposed to be meeting the Greenbean. After a couple turns around the corner he saw him, the Beanstalk with brown hair and a face that could make an angel blush. The Greenie was already wearing semi-athletic clothing. Simple shorts and a simple white T-shirt.

Minho had, more or less, come to terms with his dumb mistake the other day. Thankfully, none of the other Runners would be using the Glader’s gym this week, since formal training would start the week after. Everybody wanted a break before that happened. So all he needed to do was tell the Greenie that their little deal was only applicable this week. Sweet and simple. Minho felt like a dumbass crank for not being cool about the whole situation the other day. It was weird. He’s usually pretty good at thinking fast on his feet, but for some reason he just freaked out the other day over his verbal slip up. _Shank’s got a talent in being a major distraction, that’s for sure._

“Ey Greenie.” Thomas’s head perked up and he gave a small wave.

“Hey,” He said plainly.

Minho walked up to him, taking a deep breath inside his head. “You wait long?”

“Nope, I actually just got here a few seconds ago,” Thomas said, his eyes beginning to trail on the floor. “I got lost.”

“How cute. D’ya need me to draw you a map next time?” He remarked, confidently just as he would if it were Alby or Newt talking.

Thomas’s eyes shot up and stared at him, full of surprise. It was so sudden, it nearly made Minho jump. _Klunk, what did I say? Don’t tell me he’s the type he can’t take a shuckin’ joke? Wait… no. I called him cute didn’t I? Shuck I called him cute. I shucked up again, I shuckin’ shucked up **again**_. Minho felt himself panicking again. He opened his mouth, but his brain just couldn’t come up with a witty remark or a cover up for his slip.

“Actually I was wondering if you could write me a guide as well. You know, to help me get out of my Greenie status and be top dog like you.”

“Really?” Minho blurted. He instantly regretted those words as he said it. _‘Really?’ Minho are you serious?_ He knew the Beanstalk was just kidding, but for some reason, maybe it was that brief moment of panic that shucked him up, his brain just decided to shut off and blurt out the stupidest thing he could say.

Thomas squinted at him. “Yea… really,” he said slowly, “and while you’re at it, could you clean my room and do my math homework? That would be great, thanks.”

Okay, that was funny. Minho felt a few chuckles escape his lips. He could already feel that wave of panic passing over him, his usual confidence starting to return. Man, was this like… the third or fifth time this boy made him panic? He needed to get himself together. Seriously.

As he laughed, Minho noticed the Greenie relax his shoulders slightly.

“That’s it? Lame,” Minho said with a grin, feeling much more comfortable with the other. _Shank’s funnier and cooler than he looks._ “You got mighty Minho helpin’ your sorry pony butt and all you can ask for is help with homework?”

Thomas shrugged playfully. “I figured you would need the practice.”

Minho couldn’t help but crack a smile at that remark. It was the kind of thing Newt would say to him. He liked the Greenie’s spunk.

“You’re almost as funny as you are ugly,” Minho joked, confident that Thomas wouldn’t take his remarks seriously. “I like you Greenbean.”

It was true. Minho liked this Beanstalk. As a friend of course. He was a hot friend but that didn’t mean anything. He spun around, his back facing the Greenie, so abruptly that Minho didn’t get a chance to see a small blush creeping on Thomas’s face.

“Follow me,” Minho said, as he began walking. He took the long way to the Glader’s area, making doubly sure that he wouldn’t run into anyone. He was sure no one would be here anyways, since extracurriculars weren’t supposed to start for another two weeks, but he didn’t want to take the chance.

Once they reached the gym, Minho told the Greenie to ‘stay’ while the dark skinned male went in first to make sure if anybody was there. When the coast was clear, Minho gestured the Greenie to walk in. Minho propped his bag down and took out his leather gloves, watching Thomas as he stepped in and began to wander around the vicinity as if he never snuck himself in the other day. Suddenly the Greenie turned around, his eyes locking onto Minho’s, and pointed to the various machines in the room.

“I can… use it yea?” Thomas asked, somewhat meekly. Minho raised his eyebrow.

“No shuck. Why else would I let you come in here?”

Thomas gave a small smile. The Greenie proceeded to walk the perimeter of the room, quietly observing each and every machine as if trying to decide which contraption he should try first. Minho watched quietly, whilst rolling his shoulders, as Thomas suddenly gave up his search and returned to the darker skinned male.

“Hey, where are the treadmills?”

“Definitely not here,” Minho said, as he began to stretch his arms.

“What do you mean? This is the Runner’s gym and yet there ain’t a place where you can run?” Thomas had a slightly accusatory tone in his voice which surprised the other. Man, this shank must really like treadmills.

“We run outside,” Minho stated as if it was the simplest thing in the world. “Ya ever use a treadmill before shuck-face?” Thomas squinted at him, as if wondering if Minho was accusing him of something.

“Of course.”

“Well there’s a difference between runnin’ out in the field than on a machine. Treadmills are way too easy.” Minho said, as he put his arm over his head in a tricep stretch. “Why Greenie?”

Thomas didn’t reply. Instead he stared at Minho, his hazel eyes meeting his for a brief moment. Minho blinked at him, feeling somewhat awkward with the sudden stare. There was a look of seriousness in the Greenie’s eyes; he looked like he was on the verge of saying something astronomically important. After a few more seconds of awkward silence and staring, Thomas finally spoke.

“I wanna be a Runner.”

Wow, okay, Minho was definitely not expecting that.

“You fo’ real Greenie?” Minho said in a joking tone, but with a hint of seriousness in his voice. Thomas nodded his head, with a face packed with determination. _Well damn, the shank’s actually serious_. Minho placed his hands on his hips and exhaled. How do you destroy a shank’s dream, or goal or whatever, in the nicest and easiest way possible?

“Well, good luck with that,” Minho scoffed.

“I’m serious though.”

“Dude,” Minho began, “there are some people who are serious their whole frickin’ high school lives and --”

“Well I’m not them,” Thomas interjected, seemingly knowing full well where this conversation was going. Minho liked his confidence at least.

“Yea, keep telling yourself that shuck-face,” Minho said, already feeling somewhat done with this conversation. “Listen here. I didn’t mention this to ya before, but our little deal here… this little after school gym session thing…” Minho said, gesturing towards the whole room. “...I can only let ya in this week. When formal trainin’ happens ‘bout next week, you can’t be here, good that?” Minho was surprised how easily the words came out of his mouth. Why was he so nervous about it before? Must’ve been because Thomas was just a pretty face to him before. Now he… sorta knows him. Or at least Minho felt relatively comfortable in the other’s presence.

Thomas looked unimpressed. “Well I guess I better make the most out of this week then.” Minho looked at him in astonishment.

“Dude, ya can’t be a Runner in a week.”

“I know that. But I’ll still be one.” Thomas stated plainly. Minho was gobsmacked. This kid had no idea did he? The Greenie must think trying to be a Runner was about the same as trying to pass an exam.

“You denser than a rock, Greenie. Just what--”

“How did you become a Runner?” Thomas interrupted quickly, taking Minho by surprise.

“Hah? I trained and --”

“Exactly, and that’s what I’m going to do.”

Minho honestly had no idea what to say to that. A part of him wanted to laugh because the poor Greenbean had no idea just what he was getting himself into. Another part of him was just an eensy bit impressed with the Beanstalk’s determination and persistence. And another part just wanted to see the Greenie crash and burn so he could have the satisfaction of saying ‘told ya dude.’ So instead of arguing back, Minho just shrugged and chuckled slightly.

“Alright Greenie whatever you say.”

And with that the two more or less went their separate ways for the rest of the time. Minho trained his arms for the whole time, but all the while he kept his eyes on the Greenie. Thomas didn’t seem to notice, or if he did, he made no effort to reciprocate Minho’s glances. With each passing minute, Minho could feel himself feeling a bit more impressed at the Greenie. Despite the way he looked, the Beanstalk actually looked like he knew what he was doing. He knew what each and every machine seemed to do, and his form was perfect. He definitely wasn’t the newbie Minho was expecting him to be. Judging from the exercises he was doing, Minho assumed Thomas was focusing on training his core and legs today. After about an hour of working out, Minho approached him.

“Hey,” Minho said, panting just ever so slightly.

Thomas looked at him and did a small nod, showing that he acknowledged his presence.

“You work out before coming here?”

Thomas nodded again. “Yea, I have a friend back home who was pretty into fitness. Me and her used to do this kinda stuff all the time.” Ah well that explains it.

“Cool,” Minho said, placing his hands on his hips as he usually does. “Anyways I’ma head out now so we gotta go, good that?” Thomas nodded once more before taking a deep breath.

The two gathered their things and walked out of the school in silence. Minho wondered if Thomas was silent because he was just tired, perhaps out of breath, or maybe out of bitterness. Whatever it was, they only spoke again once they made to the school’s gate.

“So, same time tomorrow?” Thomas asked, breaking the silence all of the sudden.

“Actually I was thinking ‘bout taking a break tomorrow.” Minho could’ve sworn Thomas looked as dejected as a kicked puppy for a split second as he spoke. The Asian mentally sighed. “But, I’ll come on by and watch your sorry-face if you really want to use the gym.”

“Wow... I uh--... thanks dude,” Thomas said, clearly surprised by the kindness. He looked like a dog who was just thrown a nice, juicy steak. _Dammit, don’t look at me like that._

“Yea, whatever,” Minho said, in his weak attempt to shrug it off. He looked away in order to hide a blush he could feel creeping on his cheeks. “You owe me though.”

“Oh,” Thomas muttered. “Owe you what? I kick in the ass?”

“Hah-hah. You couldn’t touch me even if you tried, pony butt.”

Thomas smiled. “...Well I do like ponies.”

Minh laughed, and soon enough Thomas was laughing alongside with him. He didn’t want to admit it, but he was liking the Greenie more and more every time the other opened his mouth. There was something about Thomas that was just aggravatingly cute and attractive. Not just how he looks. Minho didn’t think anyone could deny the fact that Thomas was naturally attractive. But, now that Minho got to know the other a little more, Thomas’s cute-levels were just off the charts. He knew he should be somewhat worried about this development… after all, he’s a Greenbean and he’s _"the"_ Minho. Plus he’s gay and he’s… probably not. But, at the moment, Minho just couldn’t care less. He liked being in the other’s company, and that was all that mattered right now.

“Ey Greenie, give me your number,” Minho said suddenly. “J-Just in case something comes up tomorrow you feel?” _Nice recovery._

“Oh, yeah of course,” Thomas said as he dug into his pocket and pulled out his phone. A flip phone to be more precise. Holy shuck, who even uses that anymore? “I’ll text you, what’s your number?”

Minho recited his number from memory, and soon enough he felt his phone vibrating softly in his pocket. He didn’t bother pulling it out though. Because right after their phone exchange, they were talking. It was small talk at first, and then in the next moment they were talking about school, sports, games and all the stuff that regular teenage boys were usually interested in. Then it got weird, and in the next moment they were laughing about pony butts. Minho could feel himself liking the Greenie. As they spoke on and on and on, Minho kept trying to remind himself on how he shouldn’t do this, failing each and every time. He kept trying to remind himself of the dangers that followed this secret friendship of theirs. He kept trying to remind himself that if he continued this… that if he kept talking to Thomas… he would end up falling for him. He could already feel a small seed of affection growing in the pits of his stomach. But, for some reason, despite all logic and sense he could muster, he ignored it all and kept on blabbing. Because at that moment, it just didn’t shuckin’ matter.

The two of them stood by the school gate for a good forty minutes before Minho realized he had to be home like twenty minutes ago.

“Ah, shuck…” Minho muttered as he looked at his wristwatch. His parents are going to be mad. What a drag. “Listen Greenie, I gotta go aight? Catch ya tomorrow, yea?” He didn’t exactly wait for Thomas to answer as he was already starting to run down the sidewalk.

“Yea, sure,” Thomas called out to him with a smile and a wave. Minho turned around just in time to catch the Greenie’s cute little wave. The tanned male waved back at him, before he turned his head forward and began to jog back home.

  
  
  


“How was your day?” Thomas’s mom asked as Thomas got into her small, pathetic excuse for a car.

“Good,” Thomas stated, throwing his bag to the side of the car. He rested his head on the window of the car, gazing out into the scenery with tired eyes. He yawned. It was about an hour or so after Minho had left him at the school gate, and Thomas just wanted to go home and sleep. As he stared out the window, he imagined Minho running along right beside the car with that stupid smug grin and that ridiculously well kept hair of his. Thomas took out his phone and stared at it. _Should I text him?_ After a good few minutes of staring, Thomas decided against it. He didn’t wanna be annoying or anything.

Honestly, Thomas was surprised. Minho wasn’t as weird as he thought he was. He still was, but… he was also… pretty cool. He didn’t just look the part, but he was actually a cool person. No wonder he’s so popular. Thomas hugged himself, partially because of the cold of the night air that still seemed to be able to invade the interior of the car.

“Sorry Tom. Maybe I should give you money for a taxi from now on.”

“No, it’s whatever, I don’t care,” Thomas lied. He did care. A taxi would be fucking nice, but he knew they couldn’t afford one every single day. Besides, even if he agreed with the taxi idea, his mom would eventually rebuke it, even if it was her fucking idea in the first place. Thomas was beginning to feel annoyed at her again, and tried to calm himself down. It wasn’t good, and he knew it. She’s still his mom. Annoying as it was.

The rest of the car ride was silent. But Thomas didn’t care. In fact he liked it. The silence allowed him to think about a certain someone without any kind of distraction or interruption. It was nice. _I still don’t like him though,_ Thomas thought to himself. _Not in that way… no just as friends_. But even as he thought those words, he felt his face warm up at the thought of the other. _Just as friends.... Just as friends..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whilst writing the 2nd chapter I realized how I accidentally wrote up Minho to be the super stereotypical Asian. FML for writing a cliche.  
> Well in my defence, if Minho was canonically another race, I'd still try to make him Mr. Perfect.  
> Well what's done is done. Hope you can get past the cliche... I'll try to throw in some other stuff to try to make Minho's situation differ slightly from the 'perfect asian pressure' stereotype.
> 
> Sorry if that bothers you, but what's done is done i guess.
> 
> Anyhoo tell me what you think :D I love hearing suggestions and comments woot woot!


	4. Smash Bros

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys!  
> I just wanted to say one big and cheesy thank you to everyone who reads and follows this sorry excuse for a story. Like... holy crap, over 60 Kudos and over 1000 views? That's WAAAYYY more than I could ever ask for.  
> Thank you all so so so much OTL  
> Im eternally grateful for all your support!
> 
> Also a huge thank you for itslivinginadream for beta-ing this chapter specifically.
> 
> And sorry for being somewhat late for this update. I just got a job and I have midterms and fdkljsfls life.
> 
> In any case enough of my rambling. Hope you guys enjoy this chapter :)

The next day Thomas spotted Minho down the hall as he made his way to his next class. The older male was with his friends, as usual, and didn’t seem to notice the lonely new kid at first. When Minho looked in his general direction, Thomas gave a small wave and a smile hoping that the other would see him amidst the crowd of students in the hallway. But Minho didn’t seem to notice him and he continued to chat with his group of, Thomas assumed, fellow Runners.

 _Oh well_ , Thomas thought as he made his way through the crowd to class.

Later that day they met up in the quiet, eerie, abandoned bathroom, the same place as yesterday.

“Hey shuck-face,” Minho greeted with a smug, yet irritatingly cute, smile. Thomas never would’ve thought he’d ever be happy to be called a ‘shuck-face’ before. The nickname was starting to grow on him.

“Hey,” Thomas said, returning the smile.

True to his word, Minho brought Thomas to the Glader’s gym although he wouldn’t be working out that day. Thomas felt sort of guilty having Minho sit around and wait for him to finish, especially since he wasn’t even supposed to be using the Glader’s equipment in the first place. Plus, there was that… intimidating awkwardness. Since Minho wouldn’t be doing anything today, what was he going to do at the gym? Stare at him? Judge his form? The very thought made Thomas kind of nervous.

Thankfully it wasn’t as awkward as Thomas thought it would be. Minho was by Thomas’s side the entire time giving him stern but friendly encouragement as he trained, pushing him until his body wept sweaty ass tears. By the end of it, Thomas was sure he wouldn’t be able to lift a pencil, let alone walk.

“You’re not as weak as you look Greenie, congrats,” Minho said, while offering a bottle of water to Thomas, who was sitting on the floor in exhaustion.

“...Thanks,” Thomas said, breathing heavily. He took the bottle and graciously gulped down the contents of the bottle within a few seconds.

“Slow down fish-head.”

Thomas didn’t say anything, and instead took a deep breath.

“So… same time… tomorrow?” Thomas asked, his chest heaving with every breath.

“Woah woah, calm down shuck-face. You tryin’ to kill yourself?” Minho remarked sarcastically. Thomas didn’t say anything, panting heavily as he tried getting up. He felt his body cry as he did, and he instantly agreed with the other’s advice. _I am definitely going to feel this tomorrow… fuck._

“Yea… maybe I’ll just… take it easy…”

“No duh.”

Even though Thomas agreed about taking a day off to let his muscles rest… he couldn’t help but feel slightly disheartened. This was really the only time he could hang out with Minho, since the dude had a shit ton of other friends to hang out with during the day. And, admittedly, Thomas liked the other’s company.

“So… uhm… about tomorrow…” Thomas began. Minho spun around with a slightly annoyed look on his face.

“Don’t even think about it, you’re jus’ gonna hurt yourself.”

“No, I mean, yea I know, but that’s not the point,” Thomas began, feeling his heart thump in his chest. He clenched his fists and swallowed a lump of air. “I was just wondering if, you know… if we’re not doing this tomorrow then uh-- like maybe we could hang out er something?” Thomas could swear he felt his heart stop suddenly as the words rolled out of his tongue. _Why do I feel so nervous? I’m not asking him out on a date or anything._ _Just a couple of friends hanging out with each other... that’s all._ Friend… Minho _was_ his friend right? Thomas could feel himself questioning it. They were on friendly terms but did that mean they were friends?

Minho, with his hands on his hips, stared at him for a few seconds before his eyes trailed the floor. It must’ve only been a few seconds since Thomas asked about hanging out, but it still felt aggravatingly long waiting for Minho to answer.

“Nah dude, sorry, I got other stuff to do,” Minho finally said, before he turned to go refill his water bottle.

“Oh yea, that’s ‘kay,” Thomas said to Minho’s back, trying hard not to sound disappointed. The other didn’t reply.

 _It’s no biggie,_ Thomas thought to himself. _It’s whatever. He’s just busy, that’s all._ But, even as he reassured himself, he couldn’t shake the feeling that maybe Minho didn’t like him as much as he thought he did. ‘Like’ as in ‘like’ as a friend of course. Were they even friends…?

Minho came back with a small smile stretched on his lips, a smile that made Thomas forget about his previous assumptions.

“Damn Greenie, you sure know how to drink.”

“Well, I _am_ a Greenbean.”

Minho laughed, and Thomas felt a surge of pride swell up in his body. He never would’ve thought making someone laugh could feel so good.

“Alright shank,” Minho said when he finally stopped laughing. “Ready to go?”

Thomas nodded his head and proceeded to follow the tanned male out the door. They parted ways as usual at the school gate, after making small talk for another ten minutes or so. _Yea we’re friends. Definitely friends._

The next day was more or less the same. When Thomas spotted Minho down the hall, he attempted to go up and say hi because, you know, that’s a normal thing for friends to do. But, as soon as Minho locked eyes with him, the taller male immediately looked elsewhere and walked in the other direction. Okay. Thomas definitely didn’t imagine that. He was sure Minho saw him. What the fuck?

Feeling somewhat bitter, Thomas just marched off to his next class. Lunch came around and he half listened to Chuck as he rambled on about the Runners and how lucky he were to be friends with the Gold Bringer of the Gladers. _Friends huh?_

The next day came much more quickly than Thomas anticipated. It was Friday, meaning that it would be the last day he’d be able to use the Glader’s gym. That also meant that today would be the last day he would actually be able to talk to Minho. As usual, as the day dragged on, Thomas noticed that it was becoming more and more obvious how Minho pretended to act like he didn’t even exist. There was no doubt in Thomas’s mind. The fucker was avoiding him. On purpose. Thomas knew he shouldn’t be all too affected by it… like what, they’ve only known each other for barely a week? But, it still hurt. Knowing that someone you know was ignoring you on purpose was one feeling Thomas hoped he’d never have to experience again.

When it was time to meet Minho at the bathroom for the last time, Thomas didn’t bother trying to hide his annoyance. The taller male immediately seemed to pick up on it.

“Did your cat die or something?”

“No,” Thomas stated, his eyes narrowing into a small glare. It didn’t look like Minho cared though, the dude looked as unfazed as ever. “Can I ask you a question?”

Minho stared at him for a little while before answering. “Yeah, what d’you want?”

Thomas froze. _What’s the best way to put this…?_ His heart was thumping and he could feel goose bumps forming on his skin. Why the fuck was he nervous over something like this?

“Do you have a problem with me?” Thomas said bluntly. He was surprised at how easy it came out. In fact, it came out so smoothly and effortlessly, Thomas just used the moment to his advantage and kept talking. “You know I exist outside of the gym yea? I mean, dude, I say hi to you all the time in the hallways and shit. What’s your deal?”

Thomas tried his best to not sound annoyed, but he was. Minho still looked unfazed upon hearing his words. It was almost as if he was expecting them.

“... Wow you are such a Greenie.”

That was definitely not what Thomas was expecting. His eyes squinted in confusion and his face scrunched up, completely befuddled.

“What?”

Instead of answering, Minho just laughed. Thomas didn’t know if he should feel offended or not, but the other’s laughter made him feel, somewhat, at ease at least.

Suddenly, Minho stepped forward, making Thomas step backwards until his back was up against the wall. The tanned male placed his arm above Thomas’s head and loomed over him, his eyes staring into his. Woah. Woah woah _woah_. If his heart wasn’t fucking pounding before it definitely was now. Too close, too soon. Minho’s face was literally right _there_. Thomas gulped, wondering what he should say or do in this situation.

“Look Greenie,” Minho began, his eyes focused onto Thomas’s. “I can’t talk with ya in school because of klunk you don’t understand. You’re just a Greenie. You don’t know shuck. Dunno where you came from before but things work a lil differently ‘round here, good that?”

Thomas could feel his annoyance replace the initial embarrassment he felt in this situation. “Say what?”

Slowly Minho backed off, placing his hands on his hips with a sigh. “It just ain’t that simple.”

“What? You too cool to hang with a Greenie like me?” Thomas remarked sarcastically.

Minho didn’t say anything at first. He rubbed the back of his head and rolled his neck with another sigh, as if he was tired of this conversation.

“Yea pretty much.”

Thomas was appalled. “Seriously? That’s it?” And here Thomas thought Minho was actually a cool guy. Guess he’s just another image-obsessed meathead after all. “That’s fucking stupid,” Thomas muttered, not bothering to hide his irritation.

“Slim it Beanstalk,” Minho said, a small hint of annoyance present in his voice. “Like I said, you don’t know shuck. So just forget it.”

 _‘Forget it?’_ “I don’t know? Nah, I know very well. You’re just one of those shallow image-obsessed types. Too fucking cool and meat headed to hang with the new kid like me. Fucking figures.” For a split second Thomas swore he saw a look of hurt on the other’s face that made Thomas regret his words immediately. Even if he meant every bit of it. It didn’t last long though, Minho’s face flushed red in anger in the next second .

“You know what? You’re right slinthead. Why the shuck am I even hangin’ with ya? I got my own shuckin’ problems and a skinny-ass Greenie shouldn’t be one of em.” Minho spun around, clearly done with this conversation and with him. “Get lost Greenie,” he half shouted before he disappeared around the corner.

Thomas didn’t know if he felt angry, annoyed, irritated, hurt, or disappointed. Probably all of the above. He marched off, exiting the school with a scowl etched onto his face. He sat on the sidewalk right outside the school gate, smothering his head into his hands. Well. Now what? He had nothing else to do but wait for his mom to pick him up. Which would be like in another two fucking hours. This sucks. Life sucks. This definitely wasn’t how Thomas thought his Friday afternoon would look like. But … he supposed it was sort of his fault. If he never brought up the fucking topic of Minho ignoring him, he’d be in the gym with him now, working out and chilling and talking with him...

 _Stop thinking about such things,_ Thomas thought in an attempt to convince himself that none of it was his fault. Yeah… even if he didn’t confront Minho now, he would’ve some other time. Guess this was just the way it was meant to be. Feeling slightly better, Thomas took a deep breath of crisp autumn air. This was good. It’s not like talking to Minho would amount to anything anyways. After all, their little ‘deal’ would end today, which meant this would be their last gym session ever with each other. Then Minho would literally have zero reason to talk to him.

But as much as Thomas tried to antagonize the other, he couldn’t ignore the fact that Minho was nice enough to let him sneak into the gym with him in the first place. Because, honestly, that was pretty fucking nice. _Ugh, why the fuck is he so hard to figure out. The dude’s random as shit._ That, and he was kinda funny. And hot.

Thomas groaned, scratching his head in frustration. He didn’t know anymore.

 

 

 

 _Man, shuck that Greenie_ , Minho thought as he pulled his head over the bar. The olive skinned male was doing pull ups. It’s been about… how many? Minho didn’t know. He wasn’t counting. His mind was on other things. 

He grunted as he did a few more reps before plopping his feet down to the floor. It had been an hour since he told the Beanstalk to get lost and most of Minho’s irritation and anger was used up as fuel for his workout. All that was left was a strange sense of catharsis.

He wiped off the sweat forming on his head with his shirt, and proceeded to grab his bag. His mind kept on replaying their argument in his head, even after he had an entire hour to think about it when he was training. He didn’t want to think about it. He didn’t want to think about the Greenie. But, for some goddamn, shuckin’ klunkass reason, the Greenie seemed to be the only thing on his mind. _Just forget it_ , he thought in his vain and meager attempt to dismiss the Greenie from his mind.

The Beanstalk really didn’t know anything. As much as Minho would like to talk to him, he just shuckin’ couldn’t. Not in public. Not when a thousand judging, gossiping, eyes were watching him and his every move twenty four seven. It didn’t matter how cool the Beanstalk was. He’s a Greenie. And talking to a Greenie is just about as bad as talking to the principal for fun. All it takes is one jealous shank with a foul mouth to ruin him forever. Especially due to Minho’s status, any news of him would spread like wildfire. Just one rumour. One shuckin’ rumour about him and the Greenie would be enough to send his life to ruins, depending on the severity of it. Was that something worth risking? Definitely not. He had Alby and Newt. There was no need for new friends. He could wait until he was in university or something and then he’d finally be free to do whatever the shuck he wanted. That was the plan. Remember the shuckin’ plan.

Minho nodded to himself, content with his resolve. No more Greenie. No more--

And just like that his resolve more or less shattered when he spotted the Greenie waiting by the school gate, sitting peacefully on the sidewalk. Well shuck. Of course this had to happen. Only one entrance/exit to the school and here was the one person that he absolutely _could not_ talk to sitting merrily in front of the gate without a care in the world. Minho looked around. He could jump the fence. But once he reached the other side, the Greenie would see him for sure. Then he’d look like a super major ass for taking such measures to avoid his presence. Nope. That wouldn’t be cool at all. That would be such a bitch move, and Minho ain’t no bitch.

So he took a deep breath and walked forward. With every step he made, he mentally checked himself and his posture to make sure he looked as confident as possible. Head up, chin up, chest out… Gotta look as composed as possible.

In the end, it didn’t even matter. The moment Thomas looked over and eyed Minho walking towards him, Minho could feel the confidence he had been building up shatter like broken glass. Thomas had an expression that was completely unreadable. Minho couldn’t tell if he was still angry or annoyed or whatever, but the taller male forced himself not to care. _Just keep walking_. _Just walk past him and walk home like he ain’t even there._

And so Minho did. He wore a face that looked uninterested and unfazed to the world around him, including the little shank sitting in front of the school gate. Just keep it cool. That’s all he had to do. Minho bit the insides of his lip. He knew he couldn’t afford to talk to the Greenie. Better to be safe than sorry… no matter how cute or cool or adorable the darn Beanstalk was...

 

 

 

Of course. Thomas completely forgot. Minho would be done training in an hour. Thomas silently cursed himself. He should’ve waited someplace else. Well… what’s done is done. He couldn’t exactly get up and leave just because Minho was coming his way. That would be fucking rude. So Thomas just sat there. On the sidewalk. His back facing Minho as he listened to each and every footstep the other made. 

Eventually the tanned skinned athlete walked in front of him without uttering a single word. Thomas could feel himself let out a breath of air he didn’t know he was holding in. But instead of walking further, Minho suddenly sat down next to him.

It happened so abruptly, so suddenly, Thomas didn’t register the other’s presence until he actually spoke.

“Listen up Greenie,” Minho started, his voice as confident as ever. But for some reason… Thomas could hear a subtle hint of shakiness. “It’s not that I don’t like you or nothin.’ It’s just…”

Thomas heard Minho press his tongue against the roof of his mouth, making a small ‘tch’ sound. It was like Minho was done with him and this conversation, before it began, and Thomas didn’t even say anything. Or maybe… maybe Minho was having trouble talking to him? Thomas mentally shook his head. Nah, no way.

“It’s just that this school likes to ruin other people’s lives just for the heck of it. Shuckin’ stupid I know. Wicked folks they are… but it’s just the way it is. People here love to spit out rumours that would get the average person arrested. And since I’m the guy who has all the shuckin’ hype in this place, that’s all the more reason for me to lay low, you follow me?” Minho asked. Thomas was surprised at the amount of sincerity in his voice. Thomas could feel his anger and irritation slowly begin to fade. Just slowly. At least now he kind of understood why Minho practically ignored his existence in school. It was nice knowing that it wasn’t like he was annoying the athlete or something like that.

After waiting a while to process the information, Thomas finally replied to him. “Yea, I get it. Everybody here fucking sucks.” He could agree on that much at least.

Thomas saw Minho smile from the corner of his eyes, and suddenly any sort of ill feelings he had for the other dissipated. That heart-wrenching smile again… he really needed to stop doing that.

“...Not everybody,” Minho muttered.

Thomas looked at him. He was surprised to see that Minho was also staring right back at him, which made Thomas turn to face the street in front of him again.

“Yea, but pretty much everybody,” Thomas said solemnly.

“Yep. Me and some of my friends call ‘em The Wicked ‘cause that’s all they are. Shuckin’ Wicked.”

“Sounds about right,” Thomas said in agreement. He sighed, and hugged his legs closer together. “...I miss my old friends... and my old school.”

“Well ain’t no use whinin’ pony butt,” Minho said with a smirk. Thomas smiled. They were joking with each other again. That was fast… it felt like their little argument from before never even happened.

“Thanks for the advice...” Thomas said sarcastically. “... Meathead.”

Minho raised his hands up defensively and shrugged. “Eh, ain’t my problem if you’re jealous of these guns.”

They laughed, and in that moment Thomas knew that Minho wasn’t a bad guy at all. It’s weird. These past few days he’d been having many conflicting thoughts about the other. Whether he was nice, or not-so-nice… But now he was pretty sure this time. Minho’s a pretty cool guy.

“Gotta go Greenie,” Minho said suddenly, as he began to stand up. “Talk to ya later, kay?”

“Yea… alright…” Thomas said as Minho began to walk away from him. He wondered what Minho meant by ‘talk to ya later’ since Thomas was sure they’d never be able to talk in school. Suddenly, Minho walked back to him with a curious expression.

“By the way, why’re you always waitin’ around after school? Parents?”

Thomas nodded his head. Minho looked at him quizzically.

“How long do they take?” Minho asked.

“My mom takes about 2 hours to pick me up after school.”

“You kiddin’ me?”

“Nope.”

“Holy shuck,” Minho’s mouth was open, clearly appalled by Thomas’s situation. “You wait 2 hours every single day after school for your mom? Where’s your dad?”

“Uhh…” How should Thomas put this… “My dad ain’t around anymore.” Thomas could feel his insides burn and his anger for his mom resurface. He took a deep breath.

“Oh… Sorry about your loss dude,” Minho said, clearly a little awkward about bringing up Thomas’s dad. Thomas shook his head.

“Nah he’s not dead or anything. He’s just…” Thomas paused. “...Yup.”

Minho nodded, taking the hint that Thomas didn’t want to elaborate more on the subject. Thomas noticed how Minho was fidgeting with his bag, as if he wanted to say something. Odd, Minho was never nervous.

“Well…” Minho began. “You can always wait at my place if you ain’t got no where else to go. I only live ‘bout 5 minutes away, so it’s… uh… pretty convenient.”

Thomas looked at him in pleasant bewilderment. “That… would be so fucking awesome.”

Minho smiled at him. “Cool.”

“But uh… didn’t you just say like--” Thomas rubbed the back of his neck, “--like… what if people see us walking together? Wouldn’t that bother you?”

Minho seemed as if he already thought about this scenario and answered in a collected, rehearsed manner. “At this time? Nah, nobody’s around. Plus there’s a path we can take that nobody really knows about, so we’re good dude. It’s a lil longer, but it beats having Wicked on our asses.”

Thomas smiled in agreement. He’s right about that. Fuck those guys. He stood up and patted the dirt off of his butt from sitting on the sidewalk.

“Sounds cool,” Thomas said. “So uh… you sure it’s okay yea?”

“Yea no worries man,” Minho said as he spun around. He gestured Thomas to follow him, which he did.

As they walked, Minho told Thomas about his family. Well… more like he was teaching Thomas how to survive around his parents. Take off shoes at the door, say hello to each parent individually, and respond politely to any and all questions asked. Simple rules he supposed, but it made him slightly nervous. Minho reassured him that it was fine, as long as he followed his instructions that is.

Once they got to Minho’s house, Thomas was absolutely gob smacked. _This guy… was fucking loaded_. The guy’s lawn was probably bigger than Thomas’s entire house, complete with a huge fountain in the middle and huge path, made of some sort of shiny, expensive rock that Thomas had no knowledge of that led up to the front door. The entire compound was outlined with an intricate yet dangerous looking fence that guaranteed a whole lot of hurt if someone was stupid enough to try to climb over it. Hedges outlined the path that lead to the house, and there was a huge array of flowers and trees sprawled, evenly across the yard. Thomas gulped. He heard Minho laugh next to him.

“You done gawkin’ Beanstalk?”

“Give me another minute.”

The two of them walked up to the door and Minho pushed the door open.

“ _Na wasseo,_ ” Minho called out suddenly into the home as he took off his shoes and placed it neatly on a shoe rack. Thomas did the same, remembering the other’s rules. Thomas heard a female’s voice call out in response, and he assumed that it was Minho’s mother. “C’mon Greenie,” Minho said, gesturing the Thomas to follow him into the house.

Thomas hesitated. Just stepping onto the shiny surface of a floor felt like committing a crime. Nervously, Thomas walked into the house, noting the large amount of oil based flower paintings that hung from the walls. When they reached the dining room, Minho said something in Korean and suddenly looked at Thomas.

Thomas was confused at first, but then realized that Minho’s mother was right in front of him, sitting quietly behind a huge dinner table that looked like a giant white gem that was carved into a measly table. Minho’s mother had a mango in one hand, and an ornate looking knife in the other. _Oh shit, right_.

“Uh… Hello Mrs…” _Shit. What was Minho’s last name?_

“Youn,” Minho’s mother said, finishing Thomas’s sentence. With her eyes still locked onto Thomas’s, she began to peel the mango delicately, but with swift precision. Her face was unreadable, despite the smile that was woven into her face. Despite her age, there was something youthful in her appearance. She still had thick black hair, and only a few wrinkles.

“Mrs. Youn,” Thomas repeated. “Nice to meet you Mrs. Youn,” Thomas said trying his best to be as polite as possible. He looked at Minho, who was standing right next to him, hoping that the athlete would tell him if he did good. But, Minho didn’t return his glance, his eyes focused on his mother.

Suddenly, Minho’s mother said something in Korean, to which Minho responded. They went back and forth in their foreign language, and Thomas could feel himself shrinking into his shirt in awkwardness. Were they talking about him? Did he do something wrong?

Thomas waited awkwardly for a good minute for them to stop talking, standing as rigid as possible.

Suddenly, they stopped talking and Thomas could feel Minho’s mother’s eyes tearing into him. Her eyes raked up and down his body slowly, several times before she smiled again and spoke.

“How are you today?” She said in perfect english.

“I’m fine thank you, and how about you?”

“Good,” she stated, her eyes never leaving Thomas’s even as she finished peeling her mango. “Please, make yourself at home. Don’t hesitate to ask for anything,” she said with a smile. Despite the hospitality, Thomas noted how… powerful she sounded, her voice was crisp, clear, and straight to the point.

Minho said something in Korean to which his mother simply nodded her head.

“C’mon Greenbean,” Minho said, as he made his way out of the room. Thomas happily followed the buffer male, completely content with leaving the room and his mother. She was nice but… she was kind of intimidating.

They went up the stairs and along a few finely decorated hallways before they made it to Minho’s room. The taller male swung his door opened and threw his bag to the side. Thomas stepped in cautiously and delicately, afraid to accidentally break or taint the room in any way. Wow. His room was way bigger than Thomas’s own living room. He had his own TV, a desktop computer that was shiny black and neon green, along with a few bookshelves with… actual books in them.

“You read?” Thomas asked in awe. Minho looked at him in mild amusement.

“Yeah,” he said as he walked into his closet. “Not recently though. Too busy,” he said, calling out from the inside of the room.

Thomas poked around the other’s room a bit more, still in complete shock from the size of his room. Of his house even. Who knew this meathead would be frickin’ loaded? He had some sort of gaming console in his room, and a couple of sports magazines that littered a few steps away from it. That was the only thing that was really messy about his room though. The place was spotless. When Thomas felt content with his exploration of the room, he walked into the same room Minho walked into not too long ago.

“Damn, d’you have servants to come and clean your room or something?” Thomas joked as he poked his head into the closet. Holy shit. The dude’s closet was about the size of his own fucking room. Minho stood at the center, taking a couple things off the hangars, before he faced him.

“Nah, just maids,” he said as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

“Wow… ‘just maids’ huh?”

Minho shrugged. “Nothin’ special I promise you. They do more harm than good honestly… always misplacin’ my klunk.”

Minho proceeded to leave the room, gently brushing Thomas aside as he passed through the door.

“I’m gonna shower, so… just do whatever,” Minho said, as he disappeared into another door in his room. Thomas simply nodded and sat awkwardly in the center of the room. What _should_ he do? Everything looked so… untouched and spotless. It would be nothing less of a crime to muddle around the other’s room even if he allowed it… And what if he touched something he wasn’t supposed to? Nope, not going to take the chance.

And so Thomas sat, completely content, right in the middle of the room. It was only when he heard a sudden rush of water coming from the other room that Thomas realized the situation he was in. He was in Minho’s house. He was in Minho’s _room_. A sudden explosion of dirty thoughts blasted into his head, and he felt a sudden blush grow onto his cheeks. _Stop it Tom, this is the kind of stuff that happens in porn. Get a fucking grip_. He ran his hand over his head, as if doing so would brush away his perverted thoughts. _It’s just two dudes hanging out that’s all. Nothing to get worked up over_. Thomas took a deep breath, feeling slightly better.

Then Minho blasted through the bathroom door, half naked, wearing nothing but a fresh pair of soccer shorts and a towel on his head. The steam from his shower floated out of the door and outlined Minho’s sculpted body in glorious perfection. Thomas could swear he looked like a pop idol or something being semi covered with fog. Minho was too busy rubbing the top of his head with his towel to notice a very flustered and gob smacked Thomas gawking at the athlete’s body.

“Forgot to get a shirt,” Minho muttered as he walked towards the closet. Thomas didn’t even say anything at first. _Fuck my life… he’s hot_. Beyond hot. He gulped, unable to keep his eyes off of the dude’s chest, his abs, that ‘v’ line on his hip that led down to his…

Minho came out with a fresh orange tank top, his towel hanging off his neck. The athlete then walked over to his bed, seemingly trying to avoid Thomas’s gaze, plopped on it, and took out his phone.

It was silent for a while. For a long while. The only thing Thomas could hear was the small sounds of ‘beeps’ that came from Minho’s smart phone as he texted. They stayed like that for… how long? Thomas didn’t know. He was too busy trying to think of something to say to break the silence. But every time he thought of something to say, he was afraid of saying anything really. What if Minho was too busy texting his friends or whatever to even bother to talk to him? The dude did say Thomas could do whatever he wanted… so he guessed that meant Minho wasn’t going to baby him or ask him to do anything. Nope, Minho probably didn’t really give a shit about Thomas’s being here. Stupid. Of course Minho didn’t care. He was just nice enough to let Thomas sit in his home for about an hour to wait for his mom to pick him up. It didn’t mean they were hanging out or anything like that…

 

 

 

Meanwhile, Minho’s mind was completely whirring. His neck and his face felt atrociously and unnaturally warm. He was lying on his bed, his face facing towards the ceiling, with his arms stretched out above him, holding onto his phone. Just what the shuck was he doing? Minho tapped onto his screen, typing gibberish to no one in particular. It was just something to do. Something to make him feel less awkward about the whole thing. He brought the goddamn Greenie to his house. His very own room. It didn’t mean anything of course… Newt and Alby have been here plenty of times. He knew it shouldn’t mean anything. He had no shuckin’ reason to feel awkward or embarrassed. He knew it very well. But… why was everything so different when the Greenie was around him? He’d never felt so discombobulated before in his whole life. 

He knew he had to throw his phone away and start some sort of conversation. Any conversation. They could talk about the shuckin’ bird klunk for all he cared. The silence in the room was just killing him. But with every passing second, Minho felt even more inclined to leave things the way they are. _C’mon man, don’t be such a shank._ He has literally been called a ‘hero’ for his time in the Maze, and here he was… unable to summon the courage to talk to a shuckin’ Greenie. _All right, on the count of three, you’re going to throw your phone to the side and do something. Alright? Ready… One, two…_

Minho threw his phone off to the corner of his bed and sat up abruptly, only to feel surprised over the fact that it seemed like Thomas had been staring at him the whole time. The Greenie hadn’t left his spot since he got here, sitting in the very center of the room, his body facing towards Minho’s bed, his soft amber eyes staring intently into his.

“So…” Minho began, trying to not sound awkward. God he always felt like such an idiot when he was around this kid. “Wanna play a game?”

Minho saw Thomas’s throat go up and down as he swallowed. Thomas raised his eyebrow, “Uhm… what game?”

“You know. Like a game,” Minho said, unsure why the Greenie was confused. Minho gestured to the console under his TV. “Super Smash Bros. Fighting game. Do you even get what’m sayin’?”

Thomas shook his head looking somewhat ashamed with his lack of knowledge, and holy god that was probably the most adorable thing he’s seen all day.

“Dude, you _have_ to play with me,” Minho said, feeling the awkwardness leave his system, being replaced by excitement to play. He patted a spot on the bed, inviting Thomas to sit with him. Minho didn’t even realize the sexual implications behind his actions until after he did it. He forced himself to think of dead cats in order to keep his blush and his… friend at bay.

Thomas sat at the corner of the bed, and Minho sensed that he was feeling slightly uncomfortable. The athlete handed the Greenie a controller and proceeded to give him a basic rundown of the controls. Thomas nodded his head silently, as Minho explained. Once he was done explaining, Minho started up the game. Admittedly, Thomas’s silence kind of unnerved him. It made him feel slightly awkward.

The first few times around was shuckin’ awful. It was a free for all, and Minho was winning every round. Thomas and Minho played in complete and awkward silence, with Minho mumbling a “nice” or a “good job” every so often when Thomas did something cool, to which he was responded with silence. Minho was wondering if it was a good idea to even play… since Thomas looked like he was operating on someone instead of having fun. Minho was about to ask Thomas if he wanted to do something else, in fear that the other was discontent with his decision to play, when Thomas suddenly looked into Minho’s eyes with fierce determination glazed over his amber orbs.

“I got this, I’m not losing next round,” Thomas said with stone hard confidence. Minho smiled, feeling relieved.

“Whatever you say Beanstalk.”

Thomas lost the next few rounds. They were talking more now, making wisecracks at each other as they tried to beat each other’s character’s out of the ring. After a while they were laughing and making a wide arrangement of weird noises at each other. Out of all the games, Minho finally lost the last round, more out of a gimmick than anything, and Thomas just lost it. He was laughing up a storm, as he flung himself backward to Minho’s bed in excitement. Minho thought it was the cutest thing in the world. Meanwhile, Minho leaned back to lie on his bed in utter shame that he lost. Any sort of awkwardness between them had more or less completely dissipated at this point.

“What does defeat taste like?” Thomas snickered as he turned his head to face Minho.

“Psh, you lost too. It’s the ai that won you shank,” Minho said as he rolled over to his side to face Thomas.

“I don’t care,” Thomas said with a smile. “As long as you go down, it’s all good. I fight to win, but winning’s just a small bonus, as long as I take you out.”

Minho laughed. “Aim high hit low?”

“Tchyea.”

Thomas rolled over to his side, just as Minho was doing so. Their eyes were locked into each other’s, and it wasn’t after a moment of staring did Minho realize just how close they were. Their faces were a couple of inches apart, so close that Minho could feel Thomas’s breath brush against his skin, and holy shuck this was shuckin’ gay. Don’t get him wrong, Minho liked this closeness. This was probably the closest he’s ever been to a guy’s face. But… his mind had to act straight. And the false, paranoid, straight part of his brain was urging him to back away. This is way too close for a couple of straight dudes. Thomas was straight. He would think this closeness to be shuckin’ weird. But despite every nerve in his body commanding him to move away, he couldn’t. This would probably be the closest he’d ever get to being with Thomas, or with any guy really, and he wanted to cherish this goddamn moment. Was that so wrong? Thomas was also staring at him, with an uneasy look in his eyes. Suddenly Thomas sat up from lying on the bed and rubbed his face.

 _Shuck. It was weird for him. Thomas probably feels so weirded out right now_. Minho also sat up, and scratched his head. Damnit… what should he say? _That was really gay Minho… what the shuck were you thinking._

“I uh--” Minho began.

“I think I gotta go,” Thomas said suddenly. He turned to face Minho once more. “I think my mom’s gonna be at the school soon.”

“Uh, right,” Minho said. _You weirded him out buddy. Good going. You scared him off_. A terrifying thought suddenly began to sprout in Minho’s mind. What if the Greenie knew? What if he figured it out in that shuckin’ gay ass moment of staring at each other at kissing distance? Minho gulped, and he could feel his body tense up. Holy god, what should he do? He needed to play this off somehow. Gotta up the straight game.

“Uhm… thanks for uh…” Thomas said, his eyes trailing the floor. “...everything.”

“Yea no problem,” Minho said, unsure of what else to say or do.

Minho waited for Thomas to leave the room, but he didn’t. He just… sat there on the bed, as if waiting for some cue to leave.

“Uhm…” Thomas began, “Can I erm... ask you something?”

Minho’s heart skipped several beats. Oh no. This better not be where he thinks it’s going.

“Sure,” Minho said slowly, trying his hardest to sound calm.

Thomas spun to face him, his face slightly pink.

“Are you…” Thomas began, before stopping suddenly. Minho felt himself stop his breathing in anticipation for the other’s words. “... uh…”

Minho watched as Thomas gulped again. Why was _he_ so nervous?

“Uh… are you-- I mean you aren’t…?”

“What?” Minho asked quickly. His insides were burning.

Thomas took a deep breath. “I was just… going to ask about next week.”

Minho blinked at him. “What?”

“Like next week. You’re going to be training formally with your Runner friends yea?”

Minho breathed a sigh of relief. That wasn’t the question he was expecting, but hey, Minho wasn’t complaining. “... Yea.”

“Yea… right.” Thomas muttered. “I was just wondering if… uh…” Thomas took a deep breath. “I was wondering if you could help me train. I know you’re busy and all but I want to do it. Any kind of help really… like I dunno, maybe you could write me a routine or maybe tell me what you guys did one day and I’ll try to emulate it or something you know?”

The athlete nodded his head. “... Sure” he said, more out of his desire to see Thomas again than his desire to actually help him. Thomas nodded his head with a smile, his body jittering slightly.

“Cool. Uh… thanks again.”

“Yea yea no worries,” Minho replied.

The two of them stared at each other for another few seconds, Thomas swaying his hands back and forth in complete awkwardness.

“So uhmm… yup. I’m just going to uh,” Thomas said, gesturing towards the door, “uhm.. go?”

“Uh yea,” Minho said as he watched Thomas inch his way towards the door whilst still keeping the eye contact. “You know how to get back right?”

“Yea I got it.” Thomas was standing by the door, just a step away from going into the hallway. But, instead of leaving he just stood there, as if he still had something he wanted to say or do, but was unsure exactly what that thing was. “I uhh… yea. See you--”

“You wanna come over tomorrow?” Minho blurted out. The athlete knew he was going to regret this decision, based on some stupid impulse desire to see the damn Greenie’s face, but he just didn’t give a shuck right now.

Thomas was clearly taken aback, but there was a pleasant, happy look on his face.

“Yea, that would be, uh, great. Yea uh, t-tomorrow right?” Thomas said a little too quickly, stumbling over his words slightly.

“That’s what I said, yea.”

“Yea.”

“Yeah.” Minho bit his lip. _Smooth_.

“Well I guess I’ll just see you… tomorrow then.” Thomas said scratching the back of his neck.

“Yea, see ya then Greenie.”

After another minute of staring at each other, Thomas finally left the room leaving Minho alone in his room to contemplate just how much klunk he was in. _Ahh… good going man. Way to go. Shuck my life._ How was he going to explain this to Newt…

He shook his head. Nah, Newt’ll understand. Probably. Minho figured he should call the blondie soon to tell him that he wouldn’t be able to make it tomorrow thanks to… other things he forgot about. Yea, that would work. Newt’s gonna be kinda pissed, but well… he would get over it.

Later that night, Minho sat with his family of three on the same white dinner table that Thomas saw not too long ago. His mom was sitting on the same spot, the only difference being that her hair was in a bun and she was wearing a thick pair of glasses. His dad was seated at the other end of the table, whilst Minho sat in the middle, equidistant to his parents. They ate in silence for most of the meal, before his mother’s voice echoed through the expansive room.

“Where does your friend come from?” She asked in Korean, her eyes focused on her food.

“I’m not sure,” Minho responded in the same language. “I never asked.”

“So I see.”

Minho saw his father bring up a glass of water to drink from the corner of his eye. Minho’s mom did the same, except her cup was filled with a shiny red liquid. Red wine most likely.

They ate in silence once more for another few minutes.

“Your formal training begins on Monday, yes?” Minho’s mother asked.

“Yes.”

“Good. Are you excited?”

“Yup,” he half lied. He wasn’t sure ‘excited’ would be the word he’d used, but he was definitely eager to begin.

Minho’s mother nodded her head before taking a sip of wine, her eyes scanning her son’s face. It was the kind of look that Newt usually gave him every time he thought Minho was hiding something.

“Remember that you have other responsibilities besides training,” she noted.

“Yes, I remember.”

She nodded her head again and smiled at her son. “Good. We are proud of you _ahdeul_.” His father nodded his head in agreement and smiled at Minho as well.

“Very proud,” Minho’s father stated with a voice as crisp and clear as his mother’s.

Minho gulped and nodded his head in false thanks. He hated it when they said that. The only son of the Youn family, with a mountain of fortune on his back along with an ocean’s worth of expectations. He could feel his fear eating him up inside… how would his parents react to his sexuality? He wished and hoped with all his heart that they would never find out. But that fear was always there… it was basically waiting for death. Minho knew they’d know eventually. It was just a matter of time. And it killed him to think about it.

But Minho hid his fear, just as he had been hiding his whole life. He smiled at his parents and told them he’d do his best. They smiled back at him... smiles that felt like daggers piercing his skin.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not to spoil or anything but... just how comfortable are people with smut?  
> Because its coming (hah pun) pretty soon.
> 
> Im thinking about separating it so that the smut will have it's own chapter, so people who aren't comfortable with that can just skip on over it and people who like it can uh... enjoy. Hah.  
> Idk, Im just giving you guys a heads up is all.


	5. Out of the Closet

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys!  
> Sorry for the wait but here's the next chapter.  
> I won't say much now, so ya just enjoy and I hope you guys like it :)

“What do you mean you can’t drive me?” Thomas asked, trying to conceal the rising sense of annoyance surging in his veins. His mother looked at him with an apology written all over her face. It made him see red. She always made that face. Every single fucking time. _Calm down. Just count to ten. Ready? One, two, three…_

“I’m sorry Tom,” she started, her voice soft, “I know I said I could drive you yesterday but--”

Thomas didn’t want to hear it. “Yea yea yea, but you can’t,” he snapped. His mom looked unfazed, as if she’s gotten used to this sort of behavior. Thomas didn’t bother staying for her explanation. He picked up his drawstring bag, and walked to the front door.

“Tom wait.”

“What?” Thomas said, snapping his head back to look at his mom. She looked at him with her mouth open, but no words came out. _Coming up with another excuse?_ Thomas was done. He turned back to the door.

“Wait Tom just wa--”

“What?! What the f--... What do you want?!” It took everything for Thomas to not scream and swear at his mom. It was hard. Even after everything that happened to the both of them, he knew he had to remember that she was still his mom. She was the only family he had left. He clenched his teeth together, in an attempt to stop himself from snapping at her again.

She didn’t say anything at first, which annoyed Thomas further. _Stop wasting my time._

“How are you going--”

“Bus. Taxi. I don’t know, I’ll figure it out,” Thomas cut in, turning once again to the door.

“Wait!”

Thomas didn’t wait, and slammed the door behind him. His heart was pumping with adrenaline. Glad that was over with. With a sigh, he started to walk down the hall of his apartment to the elevator. He half expected his mom to come out the door and chase after him, and was relieved when there wasn’t any sign of her appearing as he waited for the elevator. The doors eventually slid open and Thomas stepped inside, his mind still trailing back to his mother.

He took out his phone and fiddled with it anxiously. A familiar sense of guilt began to root in the pits of his stomach. He knew he shouldn’t be acting like this. But, it was so difficult to not feel annoyed or angry at her presence. Thomas barely made it out without swearing. At least he didn’t this time. _What’s done is done I guess… Might as well try to forget about it_. _Yeah… today’s supposed to be a good day._ _Just me and Minho hanging out. Today’s gonna be fun._

Before Thomas realized it he was blushing. He wasn’t exactly sure why… but it wasn’t like he liked Minho or anything.

Okay, maybe he liked him a bit, but that was only because he was hot, with the perfect face and a to-die-for sculpted body. That one time where his face was just so close to him on the bed, Thomas could’ve sworn they could’ve kissed and it would’ve been absolutely perfect. _You’re in love with the fantasy man… Get real. He ain’t gay, so just forget it._ Thomas sighed. _Having a hot friend is so hard_.

  


Minho’s mind was whirring. He lay sprawled out on his bed, his head facing towards the ceiling, with his hand on top of his bare chest. All he had on was his boxers. His phone was by his side, the screen blinking, notifying him about Newt’s most recent message. The tanned boy rolled to his side to swipe the screen of his phone.

‘Ok’ was Newt’s reply. That was it? Surprising… Minho expected a hell of a lot more anger and questions for suddenly deciding to not hang out with him and Alby for the day. Perhaps Newt figured that whatever reason Minho had for cancelling on them, it was probably a good one. Thanks for being mature Newt. Even if Minho didn’t exactly have a good reason.

He sighed and rolled onto his front, his head smothered against his pillow.

He had a crush on the Greenie. He finally began to realize after dinner last night with his parents. He spent his whole night rolling around in bed thinking about that Beanstalk’s shuck-face, and his cute shuckin’ smile, and his laugh. After spending about two hours in bed thinking of ways to make Thomas laugh, Minho pretty much stopped trying to deny his feelings for him. The athlete groaned, snuggling his head further into the pillow. This was exactly what he was trying to avoid. Developing feelings and all that klunk. _Good job man, absolutely terrific._ But even so… his mind was practically squealing at the prospect that he would get to see Thomas again today. Just the two of them again.

His mind kept reeling back and forth between happiness and despair. Happiness ‘cause being with Thomas gave him a fuzzy feeling of warmth and comfort, but despair ‘cause holy shuck he just got himself into the worst situation ever. How was he even supposed to keep this up?

He rolled onto his back again, hugging the pillow so it was still smothering his head. Logically, the smartest thing to do was to break off all contact with Thomas. Being friends with this guy just wasn’t worth it… there was no shuckin’ benefit. And now look where he was. He couldn’t stop thinking about that Greenie and his stupid shuckin’ face. His mind went back to the moment Thomas’s face was just a few inches away from his. The memory of his breath gently caressing his skin, and his lips… Minho wondered what would happen if he just kissed him right then and there. Obviously Thomas would’ve been shuckin’ creeped out and that would be the end of their brief friendship, but at least Minho would’ve had his first experience with a guy right then and there. Thomas would never talk to him again, and Minho would leave with at least the experience of a kiss. Wouldn’t that have been better than what he was doing now…? Just how long could he keep his redundant relationship with Thomas, before some Wicked asshole found out and ruined his life over it? _Shuck my life._

Suddenly the doorbell rang and Minho jumped upright. Wow, what the shuck? It’s still incredibly early. To be fair, Minho never exactly told Thomas when he should come over, but he expected him to come in the afternoon or something. It was the shuckin’ morning. Minho didn’t even have breakfast yet. And his parents haven’t left for work.

Color drained from the athlete’s face. Holy shuck. His parents haven’t left yet.

Wearing nothing but his undergarments he ran out the door, only to zip back in to at least put on a shirt before taking off once more. He scrambled his way down the stairs and his heart nearly stopped and he saw Thomas, and his stupid shuck-face, being greeted by his mother. He made his way slowly to the two of them.

Minho’s mom was clearly surprised by Thomas’s visit, but was nevertheless polite. When Minho approached them, Thomas gave him a stupid, and cute, little wave. His mother on the other hand gave him an icy stare.

“Hey Minho,” Thomas said casually. “Sorry… was I a bit too early?”

Minho bit the insides of his lip, trying to ignore the fact that his mother was watching him and his every move. No doubt, she was probably wondering why he invited Thomas over in the first place. Shuck.

“Just a bit,” Minho said, trying to keep things cool and casual. He felt his mother’s eyes stabbing his back.

“Ahh, sorry,” Thomas apologized again, a look of worry apparent in his eyes. It seemed like Thomas could sense the tension between him and his mom. At least the Greenie had brains besides being cute. Minho liked that.

“...Well you comin’ in or what?” Minho said trying to be as natural as possible, stepping aside so Thomas could enter. The Greenie came in silently, and Minho turned to his mom.

“Sorry I didn’t tell you yesterday, but I invited him over today,” Minho awkwardly said in Korean to his mom. His mother looked at him, unimpressed.

“I can see that.”

Minho could practically feel his lips drying up. “I’ll let you know in advance next time.”

His mother didn’t say anything. Instead she smiled at Thomas. “Well have fun you two. Stay as long as you like,” she said before giving Minho a look that indicated that their conversation was far from over. Then she walked away, to the dining room… Minho presumed.

The athlete sighed and glanced at Thomas who looked incredibly uncomfortable. The Greenie looked like a dejected kitten and shucking hell it was just too shucking cute.

“Sorry I should’ve texted you,” Thomas said, his eyebrows scrunched together in worry. Minho was overwhelmed with the desire to just wrap his arms around him, but instead put his hands on his hips.

“Nah… don’t worry it’s cool.”

“You sure?”

“Yea but just…” Minho wondered how he should put this, “jus’ make sure to come after lunch or something next time aight?”

“Uhm… sure.” Thomas cleared his throat. “Erm… mind me asking why?”

Minho hummed, as he began to make his way back to his room, Thomas walking right next to him. “My parents leave for work after breakfast, so it would’ve been a lot less uh… trouble. Ya follow me?”

“Oh… So... basically you were tryin’ to be sneaky.”

Minho smiled. “Pretty much.”

“Welp, that went well,” Thomas joked, a smile forming on his lips. Any sort of discomfort the boy felt before seemed to have dissipated.

“All because of a Beanstalk that doesn’t know how to call ‘r text in advance.”

By the time the two of them made it to Minho’s room, they were practically spilling wisecracks at each other. They were making the crudest jokes two young adolescent boys could make, all the while sarcastically bickering at each other.

The rest of the day went by pretty quickly. Minho wasn’t exactly sure what they even spent their time on. One second they were playing games, the next goofing around running laps around the yard, then they were watching an old black and white horror film with insulting special effects, and the next second they were competing on who could do the most pushups. Minho won obviously, but Thomas wasn’t the type to take defeat lightly. From then on, every ten minutes or so, Thomas would issue the challenge again and Minho would beat him every single time, which would result in a witty remark by the athlete. And with every passing second, Minho had to fight the urge to touch the damn Greenie. He lost count on how many times he wanted to wrap his arms around Thomas and just snuggle into his neck. To compensate, Minho gave him simple, and occasional, slaps on the back and maybe a bro-pound here and there. It didn’t exactly help, as his desire to feel Thomas’s skin rose every single time.

 

 

 

Thomas didn’t like Minho. At least… that was what he kept telling himself. And with every laugh, every smartass remark, every smile Minho made, Thomas felt himself question his resolve. _He’s just hot. It’s not unnatural to be… attracted to someone hot. Physical attraction. I totally meant ‘physical attraction.’ Minho’s just a really hot friend_ , he reminded himself. 

“What’chu starin’ at?”

“...H-Huh what?” Thomas didn’t realize he was staring at Minho’s bulging arms the whole time. Minho smirked at him. _Fuck_. “Just looking at how weeny your arms are, nothing big,” Thomas remarked. _Phew, that was close_.

Minho laughed, and Thomas had to, once again, remind himself that he liked Minho as nothing more than a friend. Before Minho could make another wisecrack at him, the doorbell suddenly rang.

The athlete froze, his eyes darting to where the noise came from. Thomas froze as well, feeding off of the tension that suddenly came from the other boy’s actions.

“Uhh… what’s up?” Thomas asked the other, not entirely understanding why Minho suddenly looked so nervous.

Then Minho’s phone began to rang. Thomas watched as the other took out his phone and stared at the screen. The athlete groaned and closed his eyes.

“Uhm. Dude?” Thomas said, unsure as to what exactly was going on. Minho’s eyes suddenly shot up and stared into Thomas.

“This is gonna sound super weird ‘n klunk but,” Minho began, making his way towards Thomas, “I need you to come with me.” Before Thomas could reply, Minho grabbed his arm, pulling the brunet with him as he walked.

“Huh? Wait what?” Thomas’s confusion over the whole situation made him momentarily forget about the fact that Minho was touching his arm. Which was something he shouldn’t even be thinking about in the first place, but you know. Details.

Minho led him to his closet, opening the door and gently pushing the befuddled male inside.

“Stay in here for a bit, good that?”

Despite the rather quick turn of events, Thomas was slowly beginning to deduce what was happening to him. _A friend of his must be over or something._ Thomas wasn’t sure if he was supposed to feel hurt or whatever for Minho’s desire to keep their friendship a secret. Well, whatever.

“...Sure,” he said plainly, as Minho closed the closet door. Thomas heard Minho’s footsteps gradually fade in the distance. _Well… this is weird_. Sighing, Thomas sat down on the floor of the closet, crossing his legs together. The place was way too quiet. He didn’t like it. He glanced around, laughing at the fact that Minho had so many fucking clothes. He didn’t take Minho to be the type to really care for fashion. _I wonder what kinda underwear he wears._ He shook his head. Yea, because that was a completely normal and un-creepy thing to think about. But here he was… in his closet… as bored as a teenage boy stuck in a closet could be. Maybe a little snooping wouldn’t hurt hm?

Too bad Thomas never got the chance. The next thing he knew, he heard the door to Minho’s room bust open along with a voice he had never heard before.

“Gaw damn, it’s been forever since we last came ‘ere!”

“Pipe down Albs, you’re too bloody loud.”

Thomas walked towards the closet door and placed his ear on it. He heard shuffling on the other side, and then a sudden plop.

“Your bed’s still as soft as ever. Man, your future gal’ll be one lucky girl.”

“Dude. Really?” That was Minho’s voice for sure. Thomas could recognize that sass anywhere.

“Yea, really. Too bad you ain’t interested in datin’ and klunk, for whatever lame reason.”

“You should be happy. There’d be none left for you if I started.” Thomas smiled. Minho’s one cocky son of a bitch.

“Yea yea yea, but man seriously… you could literally get _anyone_ but you don’t even try. I don’t get you man.”

“Slim it Alby,” came a voice that was laced with a British accent. “You’re just makin’ yourself sound a tad bit desperate.”

Thomas heard the other person, this ‘Alby,’ groan. This wasn’t awkward at all. Just listening in on a private conversation between friends inside a hot guy’s closet. _Definitely_ a normal thing to do. The hazel haired boy wondered if he was just supposed to wait here until Minho’s friends left the house. He sighed.

“So, what do you guys want?” Minho asked, a slight hint of annoyance present in his voice.

“Aww don’t be like that Minny,” Alby hummed. _‘Minny?’ Hah isn’t that cute._ “We just worried ‘bout you that’s all.”

“Ain’t nothin’ to be worried about.”

“Is that so?” the British voice asked, clearly skeptical.

“Yes Newt, ‘m serious.”

There was a small moment of silence before ‘Newt’ began talking again.

“You say that but we rarely see you around anymore. What happened to hangin’ out after school? What happened today? It’s not like you at all to miss out on free shuckin’ food.” Whoever, this Newt person was, he seemed borderline angry. But not a full on angry. It was more like this Newt person was angry that Minho had been ignoring him, and boy could Thomas relate. Then came the sudden epiphany that the reason Minho had been ignoring this Newt guy was… probably because of… him? Was it his fault that Minho’s being sassed at by this Newt guy? Aw jeez, first he came up unexpected and got Minho in trouble with his mom and now he got his other friends angry at him too. _Good going Thomas_.

Suddenly a familiar ring tone broke their conversation and Thomas’s heart stopped. That was his fucking phone. And he left it on the the other side of the room.

“What…?” Thomas heard Alby say.

“...Since when did you get a bloody flip phone?”

 _Holy fuck. Why the fuck now of all the fucking times._ Thomas felt horrible. He had one job. It was to stay fucking hidden and he couldn’t even do that. Minho probably hated his guts now. Thomas could feel an overwhelming amount of responsibility flood his veins. _Poor dude must feel so fucking embarrassed right now_. Shit. What can he do? _Alright Thomas… you got yourself and Minho into this fucking mess, you gotta get yourself outta it. Somehow._ He took a deep breath, and calmed himself down before he swung the closet door open.

He walked out to see the two other boys, and wasn’t surprised to see how fit they were. Alby was huge. He was physically bigger than Minho, his muscle mass was fucking intimidating. Newt on the other hand had a way smaller frame, but was toned as shit. The dude practically had zero fat, but  by no means did he look weak. Thomas kinda found it humorous. The three dudes were like a spectrum in terms of muscle to fat ratio.

Newt and Alby were gobsmacked, and didn’t seem to process Thomas’s presence until the brunet approached Alby, who had his phone in his hand.

 _Alright man, play it cool. Act like this is a completely normal and ordinary kinda thing. Coming out of a dude’s closet is definitely fucking normal._ “Hey thanks for holding my phone,” Thomas said, trying to keep his voice from shaking. Alby blinked a few times at him, as if still trying to process Thomas’s presence.

“Could I have my phone back please?” Thomas asked, reaching out to take his phone from Alby’s calloused hand. The brawny boy made no movement as Thomas took his phone back. He read the screen.

_Teresa… What impeccable timing you have._

“Who… the shuck are you?” Alby finally asked, his eyes sharpening to something of a glare.

Thomas saw Newt turn to Minho in the corner of his eye.

“You have some explainin’ to do.” Newt said to Minho. The poor guy looked just as confused as Alby and Newt did when Thomas strutted his way out of the closet. Thomas gulped. He had to help him. From what he had been hearing, Minho gave up quite a bit of time and commitment to be with him. He had to get Minho out of this sticky situation. Somehow he just had to.

“Explaining? Explain what?” Thomas said, feigning surprise.

Newt’s eyes tore into him. He was clearly not amused.

“Gee I don’t shuckin’ know. How ‘bout why there’s a bloody _guy_ in your shuckin’ closet?” Newt said, his gaze slowly going back to Minho, directing his question at him.

“... You mean… you don’t sleep in his closet?” Thomas asked. He bit his lip. _Wow, that was a totally dumb thing to say_. Newt squinted at him and shook his head slightly. “I mean have you _been_ in his closet? The place is comfy as shit. Perfect napping material.” Thomas said quickly, before Newt could reply.

The blond scoffed, clearly amazed by the sheer ridiculousness of the situation. He looked at Alby as if trying to confirm that what was happening to them was in fact real. Thomas gulped. _Okay… this is really fucking awkward._ He looked at Minho, who was boring holes into the ground, as if in shame.

Thomas took a deep mental breath and then extended his arm. “I’m Thomas by the way,” he said, in hopes of alleviating the awkwardness and tension in the air.

Newt’s eyes raked up and down his body, a dubious look apparent on his face.

“Thomas…” the blond repeated. “... You’re… you’re the Greenie?”

Thomas’s lips went dry. _Ah shit. Smooth Thomas, that was extra double smooth_.

“Wow Minny, didn’t know you had a thing for Greenies,” Alby joked from the side.

“You best be jokin’” Minho said, finally speaking for the first time since Thomas’s… appearance.

Newt seemed to ignore Alby’s comment, his eyes still fixated on the Greenie before him.

“Okay. Tell me… _Thomas_ … why exactly are you here?”

Thomas looked over at Minho who was also staring at him. The other’s eyes were glazed over with a layer of guilt, that seemed to be apologizing to Thomas for this mess they were in. _No, it’s not your fault Minho, it’s mine. I’ll take care of this._

Thomas then looked into Newt’s eyes, feeling a wave of confidence and power wash through his body. “I’m training to be a Runner.”

Alby began laughing straight away, whilst Newt was clearly taken aback. His confusion and bewilderment was soon replaced by amusement and he began to chuckle slightly too.

“You serious?” Newt asked, with a chuckle.

Thomas nodded, trying not to let their laughter affect him. “Yup. Minho’s training me, which is why I’m here.”

Newt’s and Alby’s laugh began to fade. “You’re… serious?” Newt asked again, looking back and forth at Thomas and Minho.

“Boy, what makes you think you can be a Runner?” Alby asked.

“The kid’s much fitter than he looks,” Minho interjected. “That and he’s got brains. If Gally of all people could become a Runner, there ain’t no doubt Tommyboy ‘ere could be one too.” _Tommyboy? Minho, what the fuck._

Newt looked at the both of them, still skeptical about the whole thing.

“You are serious… bloody hell.” Newt crossed his arms together and lowered his head in thought. “You’re actually serious… I can’t shuckin’ believe it.”

“You okay there uh…” Thomas paused, trying to remember the other’s name. “...Newt?”

Newt looked at him, before stroking his chin with his fingers.

“How do you… even know each other?”

Thomas forced himself to smile, whilst trying to make up a story on the spot.

“Well uh… me and Minho go way back.” _Okay good start_. “We knew each other from uhm… years ago. So uh… yea, I just kinda told him I was moving to his school and here we are now.”

Newt shook his head.

“Go way back huh?” Thomas saw Minho shake his head in the background and he immediately knew he slipped up. “Well Thomas, considering how me, Minny, and Al all knew each other since elementary school… ‘m pretty sure I’ve would’ve seen you around.”

Thomas gritted his teeth. “Well… that’s ‘cause… our… we only met when our uh… families got together. Every so often.”

Newt raised his eyebrow.

“Like our parents are old friends. Every so often when my mom comes here for work, she’d drag me along and we’d have a small dinner with Minho and his parents. Then uh… after that’s all done and good we’d just go our separate ways. Until I moved here. Like… a week ago.”

Newt didn’t look entirely convinced. He looked at Alby, and the two of them looked at Minho simultaneously.

The tanned athlete simply nodded his head. “Yea… it’s true. We never really talked though. I jus’ knew his shuck-face from seeing him all the damn time.”

“So… that’s it? That’s the reason why you haven’t been hangin’ with us?” Newt glanced back at Thomas. “Cause you were hangin’ with that guy?”

“Training.” Minho stated. “I was trainin’ this Beanstalk.” Thomas watched as Minho placed a hand on Newt’s shoulder. “Sorry for not tellin’ ya Newt. I didn’t have a reason not to, but it jus’ seemed easier to not explain the whole thing.”

Newt squinted at Minho and shook his head.

“That’s a dumb bloody reason.” Then he squinted at Thomas. “And what’s so special about this guy anyways?”

“Let’s just say… I think Greenbean over here has what it takes.” Minho said, before sneaking a quick glance at Thomas. The brunet scratched his head in embarrassment. He wasn’t sure if Minho was serious… but it still felt pretty damn good to hear him say that.

Newt crossed his arms again. “I can’t believe this…”

“I can,” Alby called out.

“Slim it Albs,” Newt snapped back, before turning to face Thomas. He looked at the brunet for a minute or two before sighing again and looking back at Minho. “Minny, tell ya what. I’ll help you train this… Greenie, but you gotta promise me that you’ll take it easy, good that?”

Minho was clearly taken aback. “What? I don’t need your--”

“You’re overworked as it is. I can’t let ya grab another bag of responsibilities. You wanna kill yourself, man?”

Minho groaned. “I can handle--”

“You better listen to your friend here, Minho. Not sure how much more stress your pansy ass can take.” Thomas joked, hoping that being on Newt’s side would help him believe his ridiculous story even more.

Newt smirked, and Minho looked dumbfounded over the fact that Thomas was actually taking Newt’s side.

“Fine,” Minho muttered.

“Good that,” Newt said in response. Then he turned to Thomas. “When’s the next time you and Minny here were supposed to train?”

“Uhhh…” Thomas looked at Minho, who just shrugged at him in response. “Mon...day?”

“Aight, see you Monday then.”

“... Alright.”

Thomas was somewhat disappointed by this arrangement. He liked being with Minho (and definitely not because he liked seeing Minho in his workout clothes, nope). He wasn’t exactly looking forward to working out with some blond dude he never really spoke to before. But… he supposed the very same thing happened when Minho offered Thomas access to the Glader’s gym, so he guessed he should at least take this chance. Who knows. Maybe he was just as cool as Minho.

Thomas heard Alby yawn.

“Ahhh…. dude let’s go. I’ve been here for too long.”

“...It’s only been fifteen minutes,” Newt answered.

“What? Already? Man we really need to go then,” Alby said, as he began to make his way to the door. “Later Minny and… yea you.” And with that, the bulky teenager went out the door.

“Wait!” Newt called out, before groaning. He turned to face the brunet. “Well… it was nice meeting you I guess,” he said before taking off after his friend. Well that was nice of him at least. Newt didn’t seem like a bad guy at all.

And just like that, Thomas and Minho were alone in the room together again. It was like that weird encounter with Minho’s two friends never even happened. They didn’t really say anything for a bit, probably because they were both still processing everything that happened. Suddenly, Thomas felt a slap on his back.

“Hey man… thanks for uh… covering up,” Minho said awkwardly. Hmm, strange, it wasn’t like the other to be awkward. The two of them stood side by side, and the athlete’s hand moved up to rest on Thomas’s shoulder.

Thomas shrugged. “No big deal. Sorry for causing trouble.”

Minho laughed. His voice was shaky, as if the anxiety of having his two friends popping up from nowhere and discovering Thomas in his closet was still with him. Thomas had never seen Minho so nervous before.

“You… okay?”

Minho scoffed at him, his usual air of unbeatable confidence gradually returning. “Course I’m okay shuck-face.”

Thomas scoffed back at him. “Excuse me for asking.”

Minho smiled at him, their eyes interlocking once more. Thomas couldn’t take it. It was one thing to gawk at Minho and his perfect face and smile from the distance, but being this close to him was just unbearable. Thomas felt his heart pound hard against his chest, and he briefly wondered if Minho could hear it. He felt uncomfortable. He didn’t like feeling anxious just because he happened to be standing next to a sex god. _Why the fuck does he have to be so attractive_. Thomas knew he had to be careful. He was already getting flustered just by standing next to this guy. He couldn’t handle another crush episode. Not a chance. Thomas broke their eye contact and trailed his eyes on the floor, before clearing his throat in awkwardness.

  


 

Minho on the other hand was a mental train wreck. A huge bucket of conflicting thoughts swirled mercilessly around his head. He wanted to touch him. He wanted to pull Thomas into one huge ass hug for getting them out of that situation with Newt and Alby. He wanted to pull Thomas in close and place innumerable amounts of kisses on his face, neck, and shoulders… He wanted it so bad. He wanted to do unspeakable things to him, but at the same time he wanted to just snuggle up with him under a blanket and watch cheesy ass movies or something or even just go on a jog with him. Minho had never felt such desire to be with someone before. He’d happily give up a day of his life, if it meant he could be with Thomas for just a little bit longer. It was tragic. Minho already knew that everything he wanted would never happen. It was something he already accepted.

Then Thomas began to shuffle away from him, and instinctively Minho’s grip on the Greenie’s shoulder tightened. _Not yet… please. Just let me be next to you a little bit longer_. Minho knew how shuckin’ stupid he probably sounded in his head. But, they were standing close enough to each other, that their shoulders were nearly touching, which was way more than Minho could ever ask for. Thomas’s eyes went from the ground and up to Minho’s again. For some reason, Thomas looked… worried? 

They were looking at each other now, for what felt like an eternity. With every passing second, Minho could feel his heart beat faster and faster. The urge to just pull Thomas in close was just unbearable. He could feel heat emanating from his cheeks. Slowly, he leaned in. Agonizingly slow. Every nerve in his brain screamed at him. All sense of logic and reason told him to stop what he was doing, but he ignored it all. He could never have Thomas, so at least… at least he could have this. After this his friendship with the Greenie would probably be ruined forever, but he couldn’t give two shucks right now.

Thomas looked as confused, and aggravatingly cute, as ever. _Sorry Greenie. You’re going to hate me forever for this but… just once. I want to know what it feels like. Just this one time… I’m sorry it had to be you._

And just like that, their lips pressed together in the most awkward kiss known to mankind. Their eyes were still open, still staring at each other when the whole thing happened. It wasn’t really even a kiss. More like… their lips brushed against each other briefly for a second, and in the next second they were apart again. Their noses were touching now. Minho never felt his heart beat this fast ever before, not even when he ran a shuckin’ marathon. He closed his eyes, and clenched his teeth together, knowing that what came next would, probably, be the worst five minutes of his life. He waited. He waited for Thomas to push him away, to scream profanities at him. He was so nervous he felt like throwing up. His hands had never felt so clammy before. He could feel Thomas’s breath shudder. Minho waited for what felt like forever, until he opened his eyes again, only to see Thomas’s flushed and confuddled expression. They were both breathing unsteadily, their faces still within kissing distance from each other. _What’s happening?_ Minho swallowed a dry clump of air. _What was he waiting for? Why… what? What is he doing? Isn’t he grossed out, why isn’t he yelling at me?_ A sudden pint of hope sprouted in his stomach.

Panting, Minho spoke, his voice slightly raspy. “...A-Are… Are you…?” Minho’s head was on fire. He could feel himself blushing, his cheeks were probably the reddest they have ever been in his whole life.

Thomas didn’t say anything. Instead, he closed the gap between their mouths again.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So uhhh.... yea. The next chapter is pretty much ... yup. So people who aren't comfortable reading that kinda stuff can just skip it, whilst the people who do like that man on man action (like myself hehe) can hopefully enjoy it and ALLLLL its glory.
> 
> I just wanted to say a big extra special, with sprinkles on top, thank you to itslivinginadream for beta-ing my work once more!  
> And HUGEASS SHUCKING THANK YOU for everyone who even bothers reading my drabbles.  
> All your comments mean the fucking world to me, and Im sorry if i dont reply to everyone. I mean I want to but I dont really want to flood my comments to be just me being a big dork and thanking all you guys for being awesome. Yea.
> 
> Love you all! The next chapter should be up quicker than the others since I'm already like 40% through it but ahh... life, midterms, work, and HALLOWEEN so... hmm.  
> Thanks for sticking around! Love you all!


	6. Close

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Smut only chapter so look away all who arent interested in the frickle frackle

Minho couldn’t believe it. Even as Thomas began awkwardly kissing his bottom lip, he couldn’t shuckin’ believe it. When the reality of the situation finally hit him, a sea of lust and desire flooded his veins.

He kissed Thomas back, his arms wrapping around the brunet’s body. It felt so good… It felt so good to be able to hold him like this. Minho felt Thomas’s hands grip onto the back of his shirt. Their hips were grinding against each other. Minho was embarrassed at how surprised he was when he felt something hard rub against his groin. He moaned into Thomas’s mouth, and the other used this opportunity to slide his tongue into the athlete.

Minho let Thomas’s tongue dance with his, and was completely mesmerized with the taste of Thomas. He wanted to taste more. Their initial innocent kisses turned into a hot, passionate make out session as the two inexperienced boys explored each other’s mouths. Minho felt a sliver of drool escape their lips, and he couldn’t tell if it was his or Thomas’s.

Thomas wrapped one of his legs around Minho’s hip, causing the two of them to lose balance and abruptly break their kiss. The hazel haired boy fell back onto the floor, bringing Minho with him. They were panting and gasping at each other in that rare moment where their mouths weren’t connected. He felt Thomas’s heart beat ferociously in his chest, and he wondered if Thomas could feel the same from him. Minho playfully licked Thomas’s lip before he hovered above him to get one good look at the perfect boy underneath him. The Greenie was breathing just as hard as he was, his face still holding that confused look he had when Minho kissed him the first time. Too shucking cute.

Minho snuggled his head into Thomas’s neck, their chests pressing against each other. He began to run his tongue along Thomas’s neck, eliciting a few pleasurable moans from Thomas. It was the sexiest thing he had ever heard. He felt Thomas’s hand running up his shirt, gently rubbing Minho’s smooth, tanned skin.

“...Eager aren’t we?” Minho whispered. His only response was Thomas’s deep, heaving breaths of air.

Minho pushed himself off of Thomas’s neck, straddling the paler boy’s hips. He grabbed the nape of his shirt and threw off his shirt in one swift movement. He saw Thomas’s throat bob up and down as he gulped, and Minho smiled in response. The athlete allowed his hands to explore his own body, rubbing his chest and abs simultaneously in an agonizingly slow manner, all the while playfully gyrating his hips against Thomas’s groin. Thomas leaned his head back and moaned, as he began to thrust his hips slowly and lightly against the sex god above him.

Minho let his hands slide into his shorts as he continued to dance on Thomas’s hips. Thomas looked at him, obviously eager to see what kind of goods was hidden under his pants. Minho slid his shorts down, teasingly, just enough so the shaft of his manhood was just barely visible before pulling his shorts back into place.

“...F-fuck…” Thomas groaned. Minho smirked, sticking his tongue out playfully. He never felt so shucking confident and natural before in his life. He no longer felt uncertain. He didn’t have to pretend anymore and it was the best feeling in the world. That and he had Thomas squirming under him… could this day just get any better?

Suddenly, Thomas pushed himself off the ground and threw his arms around Minho’s chiseled and perfect body, which sat on Thomas’s thighs. He smashed his lips against the athlete’s, taking him slightly off guard. After he recovered he let himself taste Thomas’s tongue again before sliding his hand under the Greenie’s shirt. He let his hands run all over Thomas’s back before breaking off their kiss to throw Thomas’s shirt to the side.

They pressed their foreheads together again, looking at each other with semi-dazed eyes.

“How...how did you know?” Thomas said softly, panting into Minho’s mouth. Minho let his hand slide up the front of Thomas’s body, rubbing his chest and nipples before he grabbed the back of Thomas’s neck and pulled him into another kiss, shoving his tongue deeper into Thomas’s mouth, trying his best to explore Thomas’s mouth and memorize its contours. He would never get tired of this. He licked the top of Thomas’s lip before answering.

“I didn’t,” he said quickly before pressing his lips against Thomas’s again.

“...But...you… you kissed me?”  Thomas said in between kisses, during those brief moments when Minho’s tongue wasn’t sliding against his.

Minho broke their kiss again and smirked at the other boy. He wrapped his arms around the paler boy and pulled him into a hug, their chests rubbing against each other.

“Yeah… and aren’t you glad I did?” Minho began to lick the boy’s shoulder, his tongue slowly making its way up the other’s neck. Thomas moaned again, before clasping onto the back of Minho’s neck with one hand. His other hand began rubbing the athlete’s bulge.

Minho let a moan escape from his lips, as Thomas began to caress his manhood. He never expected such a simple thing… the friction of his dick rubbing against his shorts to feel so good. He suddenly felt something warm and wet on his neck. His nails dug deeper into Thomas’s back as the brown haired boy began to nip and suck on his neck.

The athlete hissed. He now understood the appeal of hickeys - the very idea of leaving your own mark on someone and marking him as yours. He let Thomas suck his skin for a little while more before pulling the back of Thomas’s hair lightly, forcing the other to break off from his neck. Then he leaned in to pull Thomas into another deep kiss As the athlete leaned in, Thomas leaned back and soon the paler boy was on the floor again, with Minho still dry humping Thomas’s hard on. Minho rubbed his hand against Thomas’s nipples before sliding it in between his legs. He rubbed his partner’s shaft first, making Thomas moan into Minho’s mouth, before tugging the other boy’s pants away. It was hard since the elastic of the boy’s underwear seemed to be caught on the paler boy’s dick. After a few more awkward tugs, Thomas’s manhood sprung out in all it’s glory. He wrapped his hand around the other’s dick, stroking it gently before, slowly, beginning to kiss his way down from Thomas’s mouth, his chest, his abs, and eventually to his hips. Thomas’s breath hitched.

Thomas was pretty big. His dick was long with a pretty nice girth. Minho ran his tongue from the bottom to the tip of the head, relishing how Thomas tasted. He stroked the full length as he playfully licked different parts of Thomas’s shaft. Occasionally he flicked his tongue over the silt of the boy’s shaft, causing Thomas to make hitched moans and arch his back slightly. It was the sexiest sound ever, and it made Minho’s heart and manhood throb knowing that these noises were all because of him. Minho slid one of his hands underneath his shorts and began to stroke himself as he stroked and licked Thomas. Eventually he pulled his shorts down to his ankles, revealing his incredibly thick and throbbing member.

After teasing the boy’s dick with licks and kisses, Minho finally closed his mouth over the top of Thomas’s hard on, his tongue swirling over the top playfully. Thomas was just losing it, until suddenly he latched onto Minho’s hair, keeping his head in place, and began thrusting furiously into Minho’s mouth, his dick hitting the back of the athlete’s throat

“H-Hn...ng?!”

Minho heard Thomas cry out and suddenly he felt something warm and sticky spill into his mouth. The athlete gagged and coughed as he let Thomas’s dick slide out of his mouth. Small streams of cum were still bursting out of Thomas’s dick even as his manhood left the other’s mouth. The cum squirted mostly onto the left side of Minho’s face and he had to close his left eye as Thomas’s sticky goodness fell over it.

Thomas was breathing heavily, his breaths uneven, as he propped himself up on one elbow to look at the stud who just blew him. And holy god it had to be one of the sexiest, if not _the_ sexiest thing he had ever seen.

Minho was panting, not as hard as Thomas of course. His tongue was sticking out, showing the cum that had collected in his mouth, with some of it escaping in a small stream from the corner of his mouth. His face was fixed in a permanent wink as a line of cum covered his left eye, nose and left cheek. The athlete rolled his tongue back into his mouth and swallowed, a small sliver of cum still seeping out from the corner of his mouth.

“...I barely even did anything,” Minho husked, his lips curving into an amused smirk.

“...Hah...I-I’m…sorry… ha..h…” Thomas stuttered, leaning his head back to stare at the ceiling. Minho clambered on top of Thomas, kicking his shorts off his ankles, and hovered over Thomas. Their dicks were rubbing against each other, and despite having just came, Thomas’s dick was still just as hard as it was before.

“Was I that good?” Minho teased. In response, Thomas placed one of his hands on the nape of Minho’s neck and pulled him in for another kiss. Thomas sinfully licked off his own cum from the corner of Minho’s mouth and shared his treasure with Minho’s tongue. Their tongues wrestled over each other, as the cum mingled in between their mouths. After a while, they broke off, slowly, both of them sticking their tongues out as a sliver of cum-filled spit bridged their tongues. They smiled at each other before they closed the gap between their mouths for another make out session, all the while dry humping each other.

Thomas suddenly pushed Minho away and sat up. He grabbed Minho’s thighs, his hands dangerously close to the athlete’s juicy ass. He stood up, surprising the athlete, as Thomas picked him up, walked to the bed, and plopped him on it before falling on top of him. Minho’s legs were wrapped around Thomas’s hip, his dick still throbbing in eagerness to explode. In comparison to Thomas’s manhood, Minho’s was a bit shorter, but thicker and stronger.

“You realize we had a bed this whole fucking time?” Thomas joked, his chest heaving slightly.

“...Who knew?”

Thomas kissed Minho briefly before licking a bit of his cum off of Minho’s closed eye. He then proceeded to bring his lips down to the athlete’s dick. Unlike Minho who teased a shuck ton before finally wrapping his lips around Thomas’s glory stick, Thomas just went for it, letting Minho’s dick slide into his mouth with ease. Minho moaned, gripping onto the blankets of his bed.

Thomas slowly brought his head down until most of Minho’s shaft wasn’t visible anymore, before bringing it back up just as slowly. From then on, the paler boy bobbed his head up and down, his hands running up Minho’s body, caressing his hard earned abs. Minho could feel himself biting his lip in intense pleasure. This felt… unbelievable. The slick warmth that engulfed his dick was unbearable. Thomas occasionally let his tongue rest on top of the head of Minho’s dick, licking the slit, before suddenly bobbing his head down Minho’s shaft, sucking until his cheeks were slightly hollow. Minho began to rub his body with his hand, playing with his nipples, his other hand still gripping onto the blanket tightly. The suction felt incredible.

Every time Thomas bobbed his head, Minho could feel the paler boy taking in more and more of his dick. Until eventually Thomas managed to take in everything. Minho’s breath hitched, surprising him. It was simply illegal to feel this good.

“How are… you… doing that?” Minho asked, feeling slightly dazed from the excessive pleasure he had been feeling.

Thomas slowly went up, letting Minho’s dick escape his lips. He looked at Minho from behind the athlete’s dick and licked his, already wet, lips. _Too… shucking sexy_. Minho could masturbate to that image for years.

Thomas began to stroke Minho’s manhood, which was lubricated with the other’s spit, whilst still maintaining eye contact.

“Well… it’s not hard. You just put the schlong in your mouth and that’s it. You just did it man… you already forgot how to suck a dick?” Before Minho could reply, Thomas swirled his tongue around the top of Minho’s cock before taking in all Minho had to offer.

“A-Ah…!” Minho grunted, “That’s… not what I meant… you … ass…” Minho couldn’t believe how much this was affecting him. Was it normal for his breathing to be this irregular? Minho could feel Thomas smile under him. The athlete began to thrust slightly, knowing that Thomas would be able to handle it, and holy shuck did that feel good. Thomas’s mouth was just so warm, and the pressure from the suction was unbearable. At first it was just small, occasional thrusts, and Minho still let Thomas do most of the work. Eventually Minho’s thrusts became more regular and powerful, as he began to full on fuck Thomas’s throat. Amazingly, Thomas didn’t gag, which made Minho feel slightly embarrassed. However, he just felt so shuckin’ good right then that he didn’t care about anything else.

After throat fucking Thomas, Minho eventually began to feel the familiar heat pooling in his already throbbing dick.

“… Shuck…” Minho moaned before grabbing Thomas’s head and suddenly pulling him off.

“Hm…?” Thomas hummed in confusion, as Minho pulled him into another hardcore make out session. Thomas had an excess of spit in his mouth from the blowjob, and as they kissed, small slivers of drool escaped from both their mouths. For some reason, Thomas’s tasted even better than before. Minho threw Thomas to the side, suddenly, and hovered over him, his arms extended, and his knuckles placed on each side of Thomas’s head. He bent his elbows and brought himself down to kiss Thomas once more. He let one of his hands find and rub the paler boy’s legs as he continued to suck Thomas’s face. 

Minho broke off, slowly, licking Thomas’s lips as he did, before he spread the other’s legs with his hands. Thomas’s face suddenly twisted in alarm.

“..H-..Wait!” He cried out. Minho looked at him, breathing heavily waiting for the other to continue. Thomas gulped. “...I don’t… I don’t know if…”

Minho didn’t let Thomas finish as he smashed his lips against the others again, running his tongue all over the other’s mouth.

“...We don’t have to,” he whispered into Thomas’s mouth. Thomas moaned as they continued to make out, the paler boy letting Minho dominate the insides of his mouth with his tongue. Suddenly, Minho began to laugh slightly into Thomas’s mouth. “I don’t… even… have a… condom…” Minho said between kisses.

Thomas wrapped his arms around Minho’s broad shoulders, one of his hands holding onto the nape of Minho’s neck. He pulled the athlete closer to him, wanting their mouths to be as deeply connected as possible.

Thomas could feel Minho’s thick length rubbing against his virgin hole as the athlete grinded his hips against Thomas’s.

Thomas cupped Minho’s face with his hands and pushed him away slightly.

“Just do it.”

Minho smiled at him, panting. He leaned down again and placed a soft kiss on Thomas’s forehead before responding. “You sure?”

Thomas just nodded and eagerly pulled Minho into another superb make out session. As they let their tongues dance around each other, Minho slid one of his hands down and teasingly poked at Thomas’s entrance. He was eager to just bury his dick inside the boy underneath him, and having to prepare him was as pain in the ass. He slid his middle finger inside first, which elicited no response from the other. Then two. Thomas moaned slightly, and when he put in three fingers, Thomas was practically squirming, just as eager as the athlete was for the real thing. Minho held his still wet and sticky dick with one hand and adjusted it until he knew he was pressing his tip against Thomas’s entrance. Minho’s other hand slid under Thomas’s body, his nails digging into Thomas’s back. Then he pushed.

“...M-Mmph!” Thomas cried, his cries muffled by Minho’s mouth. Minho felt Thomas’s hands grab onto the back of his shoulders as he slowly buried himself into Thomas. The tightness… the friction… it was more than Minho could ever dream of. They both moaned into each other’s mouths as Minho began to thrust slowly. 

Thomas’s chest heaved and he arched his back, until their nipples were touching again, in either pain or pleasure, Minho couldn’t tell. All he knew at this point was that being inside Thomas was a feeling he wanted to feel forever.

Initially, his thrusts were agonizingly slow, but even then Thomas was squirming and moaning uncontrollably underneath him. Minho wasn’t even fully inside yet. Minho wondered a few times if he should stop and see if Thomas was alright. After all... the only 'lube' he had was Thomas's spit. It was definitely rough... even Minho could feel the burn of the friction, and it must've been worst for Thomas. However, every time he thought about stopping to see if the boy was holding out okay, Thomas would undulate and use his legs, which were wrapped around Minho’s hip, and push Minho deeper inside him.

They never stopped kissing and running their tongues over each other’s and only stopped when breathing became necessary. Eventually Minho began slamming his hips onto Thomas’s, a loud, rhythmic smack of skin against skin bouncing off the walls. Minho’s hands found Thomas’s and they clasped onto each other as Minho buried himself deeper and deeper into Thomas. Thomas’s body jerked slightly with each powerful thrust Minho made.

Minho could feel himself losing it being inside Thomas. An intense feeling of heat was rapidly building up inside his throbbing dick again.

“...o..om..ass…” Minho moaned into the other’s mouth.

He couldn’t hold out anymore. He exploded inside Thomas’s hole in the best, most intense orgasm he ever had in his entire life. Minho finally broke off their kiss and got up, gripping his dick and guiding it out of Thomas’s body. He continued to spill as his dick left Thomas’s entrance, streams of Minho’s sticky white mess landing on Thomas’s pale body. Some of it flew into the other’s mouth, face and hair.

Minho’s was huffing hitched breaths as he stroked out bits of cum that still remained in his dick. Thomas was breathing just as heavily, looking at Minho with his hazel, lust-glazed eyes. Panting, Minho fell on top of Thomas again, feeling his own cum on his skin, before placing an innocent flurry of kisses on Thomas’s face and body.

Minho eventually found himself exploring the insides of Thomas’s mouth again, as he buried his, slowly limping dick into Thomas’s hole again, which was seeping of Minho’s cum. Their hands found one another, and the two started another feverish make out session.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soo... I originally just planned for them to give each other incredibly awkward blowjobs and stop there. But then I thought... will two horny, adolescent boys who just discovered another gay person for the first time in their lives REALLY stop there?  
> So woop. They lost their virginity to each other.
> 
> Next chapter will obviously focus on the repercussions and... where their relationship stands after this.
> 
> Thank you for itslivinginadream for betaing and thank you all for reading :D  
> Your comments are just wayyyy too nice... I mean 'fave thominho fanfic'? Thats... so flattering. I dont even know what to say.  
> I feel like I owe you guys something just for saying such nice things all the time urp.
> 
> Anyways, see you in a week or two :D


	7. Surprise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all! Sorry for the wait but November is a crazy month... hah... everything from all my classes are due and then there are regular tests and then preparation for exams in December... Then I have work as well... Yea. Pretty hectic!
> 
> Anyways here's an update.  
> This chapter and the next three chapters will be pretty plot heavy, with little smidgets of Thominho... hope my plot isnt too boring hoho.
> 
> This chapter is beta-ed by tumblr user huntersallisons! Thank you so much :')

“What the fuck were we thinking…?” Thomas groaned, submerging half of his head in bathtub water. He was sat in between Minho’s legs, back resting against the other boy’s torso. Minho’s arms were resting on the edges of his expansive, modern bathtub, in a rather douche-y manner. Thomas heard the athlete laugh slightly. The paler boy could only groan in response, the water bubbling as he did. You’d expect someone who just had sex in the first time in his life to be rather giddy about the whole thing. Especially since the person he did it with was… fucking hot. But even if Thomas thought he was outrageously attractive… something just… didn’t sit right with him. Instead of giddiness, all Thomas felt was a weird feeling of disappointment, but he couldn’t exactly figure out why. 

“Did it hurt that bad?” Minho asked, in response to Thomas’s groans.

“No.” Yea that was a lie. His ass was burning like hell. Thank fucking god the water was nice and lukewarm… he didn’t think he’d be able to take a hot bath in a week. He groaned again before readjusting himself so that his head rested on Minho’s sculpted chest. As he did, his lower body stung as he moved. He hissed.

Minho laughed as he wrapped his arms around Thomas’s torso and rest his head on his shoulder. Again, Thomas felt an uneasiness ache in his chest. Somehow this whole thing felt horribly wrong to him. He wasn’t exactly sure why or what that thing was… it was a feeling he couldn’t really put into words. But, he supposed he had to try.

“Uhh…” Thomas held onto Minho’s wrist and gently pulled him off of him. He could practically feel Minho raising his eyebrow in confusion.

“Hmm?”

Slowly he moved towards the other end of the tub and faced the athlete with a semi-serious expression. How should he put this?

“Minho,” Thomas began, “... we just fucked.”

Minho looked at him with an amused face and scoffed. “Yeah, and water is wet.”

“No I mean…ugh,” Thomas splashed some water on his face and wiped it with his hands. “...We just did it. And that… was my first time.” He felt stupid saying it. He wasn’t even sure where he was going with this, and what he wanted to get out of this conversation.

Minho shrugged. “Yeah, mine too.” That was surprising. Minho seemed like the kind of person who did this sorta thing all the time. It made Thomas feel even more anxious. He bit his lip. Was it really just him who felt uneasy about this whole… thing? Minho didn’t look like he gave two fucks about doing it. Maybe the whole thing felt wrong because everything happened in one single moment of lust. Now that all the horniness was gone… all he had left was a burning ass, and a missing v-card. _Dammit Thomas, you’re a mess…_

“Are you going somewhere with this or…?” Minho asked, clearly unsure as to why Thomas was stating the obvious.

To be honest, Thomas didn’t know why himself. He leaned back against the wall of the tub, slinking deeper into the water, until his chin just barely touched the surface.

“I dunno,” Thomas sighed, closing his eyes. He couldn’t describe this gnawing uneasiness he felt in his core. Everything was happening just way too fast. Was that the problem? He literally just moved to this foreign town a week ago. He’s attended this new, shitty ass school a week ago. He met this unfairly cute and attractive boy a week ago. And somehow within that incredibly short time-span of a single fucking week… he lost his virginity to that very same boy. And what’s going to happen now. Is he going to be in a fucking relationship with this boy that he’s only known for a week? Some person he barely even knows? He barely even knows Minho and yet they just did it. And now here he is naked in the bathtub with him… how could he be so fucking stupid?

Thomas liked him. He couldn’t deny that. But… was one week really enough to decide if his feelings were real and not some… lust-filled infatuation? He had no idea. Plus… what did Minho think about all of this? Did Minho even like him… or was everything just one huge, horny confrontation? Thomas felt ashamed of himself. He just made love with someone who probably didn’t even love him to begin with.

“Dude. You feelin’ alright?”

Thomas opened his eyes again. “...No.”

Minho’s eyebrows curved in concern, and damn was he cute when he cared. Thomas watched as the athlete rubbed the back of his head. “Next time jus’ tell me when it hurts and I’ll stop.”

Thomas shook his head, water sloshing back and forth as his chin dragged across the surface of the water.

“It’s not that.” _Well… that’s not the only thing I’m worried about at least._ Thomas expected some sort of witty remark from the other, but to his surprise Minho was quiet, staring at him intently. “Minho… exactly what are we right now?”

“Well. Last I checked we were humans.”

“...Dude.”

Minho made an innocent laugh, which both irked and soothed the brunette’s mind. Damn him for being so fucking cute, it made it harder to be angry at the fact that the athlete didn’t seem to be taking this as seriously as Thomas did.

“Your fault for asking a dumbass question.”

“Dumb? What?”

Minho gave him another one of his cocky smirks before cat crawling towards the smaller, confused boy. Holy fuck, he looked so goddamn irresistible, the water gliding over his smooth, sculpted body as he made his way to Thomas. The paler boy could feel himself shrinking deeper into the water. He sat frozen in the tub, as Minho loomed over him and placed a soft, innocent kiss on the lips. Well… it was innocent at first.

To his dismay, Thomas found himself mesmerized by Minho’s lips, and it was only after five minutes of full on lip play did Thomas finally push Minho off of him. _Damnit._

“Minho… I’m serious…”

The athlete blinked a few times at him. It was clear to Thomas, from Minho’s expression, that the athlete was slowly beginning to understand the seriousness of the conversation. His cocky, little smirk was replaced with a confused frown.

“What do you mean?” Minho asked.

“I mean like…” Thomas shifted his gaze to the side of the tub, not wanting to look at Minho and his puppy-dog eyes. “...I just need some time.”

 

 

 

 

“Time?” Minho didn’t even bother trying to hide the confusion from his voice. “What d’ya mean ‘time?’”

“Time to think.”

“About?”

“...This. I mean - I don’t know if… this is right. I don’t know if we should be doing this, you know?” 

Minho wasn’t sure how he was supposed to feel. Disappointed? Hurt? Shocked? Maybe all of it at once? He felt his heart squeeze in his chest. _He doesn’t like you. Not that way_. Of course… it couldn’t be that easy. Just because they touched, kissed, shucked each other, didn’t mean Thomas harbored the same feelings Minho had. The sex meant nothing. Any gay dude with half a brain would jump at the chance for a lusty moment with him. He had a ‘hot body’ after all, according to absolutely everyone. Minho swallowed a dry clump of air, whilst forcing himself to smile.

“...Alright,” he said. Truthfully, all he wanted to do was to scoop Thomas up in his arms and hold him. He wanted to hug him, kiss him, and cuddle with him underneath the blankets, things he never thought would’ve have been possible until now. It was shucking unfair. He finally found someone else… someone else like him. He was so sure Thomas felt the same. He clenched his teeth together, whilst still wearing his smile. _Don’t jump to conclusions man… the Greenie just said he needed time. That could mean anything. Maybe he does like you. Maybe this can work. Yeah._ Despite trying to reassure himself, he still felt so… _used_.

“Thanks,” Thomas mumbled, a small smile starting to form from his lips. “I just need some time to think. It all just happened too fast you know?”

“...Yea,” Minho lied, feeling his heart sink. Too fast? It didn’t happen fast enough. He loved him. God shuckin’ damnit he never felt so helpless and needy over a single person before in his life. Slowly Minho backed off into the opposite side of the tub. He fought the urge to just go up to Thomas and hold him and kiss those lips of his, but damnit it was so shucking hard. Pathetic. It hasn’t even been a few minutes since he last kissed the Greenie and he was already hung up on him. Great.

The two of them sat in silence, as awkward as two naked teenage boys in a tub could be. Thomas looked anxious, as if he wanted to say something. But nothing ever came.

Eventually the two of them got out of the tub together, trying to make small talk about other less awkward things, but it was clear that the topic of their relationship was still in the front of their minds. Minho could only smile as he watched Thomas waddle next to him. It was unfair how adorable this guy was. _Too bad he was just using you…_

Minho shook away his negative thoughts. He knew he had to try to be happy and optimistic; after all, Thomas was gay too and what a revelation that was. What were the odds that the person he’d crush on would also be gay? Minho figured he should be happy that he found someone else like him at the very least. And he kissed said person he had a crush on. Shucked him too. Some people don’t ever get that chance. He just hoped it wouldn’t end there… that this wouldn’t be just a one time, physical relationship kinda thing…

The rest of the day went by easier than Minho thought. The awkwardness disappeared faster than Minho thought would be possible. Mostly because Thomas didn’t seem to feel awkward at all. If anything it was like they never even kissed… or had sex. Minho was relieved that he wouldn’t have to do any extra work to make things less awkward between them. But, at the same time, he felt miserable. It felt like he was back to square one… that everything that happened between them didn’t even shucking matter. And that kind of hurt. Did that kiss mean nothing then? Minho was so certain that Thomas liked him, and now… Minho just didn’t know anymore. _He was just using you._

Minho kept his concerns and negative feelings to himself, doing his best to act like his usual, sarcastic, care-free self. It wasn’t too hard. Just being with Thomas and listening to his laughter and wisecracks was enough to make him smile.

 

 

 

It was Sunday in the afternoon, and Thomas was alone in his room trying to do his homework. He was failing. Horribly. His mom was still sleeping, which was understandable. Sunday was the only break she had from work. Obviously, it meant that she couldn’t cook, so Thomas made himself breakfast and made extra for his mom if she decided she wanted some. He spent the morning doing chores such as vacuuming the place and doing laundry. By the time he was done cleaning the house, it was already the afternoon. 

He texted Minho a few times, slightly ashamed of the fact that he kept flipping his phone on every twenty seconds to see if the other replied. Every time he did, he could feel himself squeal inside. Minho was a pretty stand up guy. Thomas was pretty happy that Minho agreed that things were happening a bit too fast. Thomas could feel himself liking the athlete more and more each passing second, but he still wanted to take things slow. He knew it seemed pretty fucking redundant since they had already fucked, but Thomas had never been in a relationship before. Minho looked like the kind of guy who could get anyone he wanted. _I mean with that body, who wouldn’t want him?_ So… why’d Minho even bother with an average looking guy like himself? What if Minho was the player type of person or even more of an asshole than what he appears? Who knew? He didn’t want to rush this. Even if he liked Minho. Thomas didn’t want to repeat the same mistakes his mom made. He wanted to know more about him, before diving into anything he might regret.

Suddenly his phone rang and Thomas flipped it open, eagerly, thinking that it was Minho.

 _Oh… fuck_. It was Teresa. He sighed, knowing that a shitstorm was coming his way. He placed the phone, gingerly to his ear.

“...Heeeyy,” Thomas said with an overly happy voice.

“Tom, you’re a dick wad.”

 _Ahh… nice to hear from you too._ “Haha, sorry Tes.”

“Sorry my ass… you didn’t even try calling back? Didn’t think you’d forget our deal so easy.”

“Haaah… yea, I’ve been busy.”

“Too busy staring at dudes I bet,” Teresa said with a scoff. “Where were you yesterday? I called you you know.”

“Yea, I know,” Thomas said, getting embarrassed over the memory of being discovered by Minho’s two friends. “It was just a bad time, ya know?”

“Yea yea.” Thomas can practically hear her roll her eyes. “You know some people consider it rude when you don’t call back, hmm?”

“Well. I’m sorry I’m not perfect like you.”

“Obviously bitch, but you can at least try next time,” Teresa snickered. Thomas laughed, and man it felt good to hear from her again.

“How’s Aris?” Thomas asked after his laughter had died down.

Teresa hummed, “A bigger dork than usual if you can believe it.” Thomas could hear something rustling in the background on the other end of the phone. He figured Teresa was probably eating a bag of chips or something. _What a pig._ “What’re you up to?”

“Uhh…” Thomas paused. Holy fuck, he should totally tell Teresa about Minho but damn where would he even start? As he pondered what to say, he could hear Teresa crunching on chips, waiting patiently for Thomas’s reply. “So… you’re not going to believe this…”

“Hah, what? You finally fucked someone?” Teresa laughed.

“...”

“...”

“... Uh…”

The sound of Teresa’s munching stopped suddenly.

“Oh my fucking god, are you serious?”

“Yuuuuup,” Thomas said in an overexaggerated tone, whilst laughing.

“Quit fucking with me, oh my god,” Teresa said, breathing a sigh of relief. “You ass, I almost believed you.”

“No no, really.”

“Yea right. It’s only been a week.”

Thomas didn’t know what to say to that. Because it’s true, it really has only been a week. Thomas scratched his head, trying to think of a way to say that he lost his virginity within a week of being in a new town without sounding like an absolute idiot.

“...Oh no… dude…” Teresa sighed, breaking the brief moment of silence. “You _are_ serious aren’t you?”

“Yeaa…”

“Oh god you actually did it. Hah! You _actually_ just--! Oh my--!” Teresa started to laugh hysterically. Whether she was laughing because she was happy, and excited for him or because she found the notion of Thomas actually being able to have sex incredibly humorous, Thomas couldn’t tell. “Holy shit Tom… I can’t believe it. I thought you weren’t into hook ups?”

“I’m not.” He hummed. “...And I’m still not, it just sorta… happened?”

“...You ‘just sorta happened’ to fuck someone?”

“No-- I mean… it’s complicated.”

“...” Thomas heard Teresa munch on her food again, the crunch of chips made him hungry. “Well I got time,” Teresa said with a smile in her voice.

And so Thomas spilled the beans. He started with the very first day he saw Minho in the hallway, and even included his meeting with Chuck. He explained the the concept of the Maze and how it intrigued him and how he snuck into the Glader’s gym where he first really spoke to Minho. He told her about the dumb stuff they talked about, how he calls him “shuck-face” and “beanstalk,” and how they goofed around in his house. And finally he told her about the moments that led up to their first kiss and… what happened after.

“Then I told him that I thought things were happening way too fast you know? Like I don’t wanna rush into anything I’ll regret and end up like…” _Like mom_. “...Yea.”

“Mhmm…” Teresa hummed. She was slurping on something now. It was probably a can of pop or a cup of hot chocolate, or pretty much anything sweet. “...But you like him?”

“I--uh…” Thomas paused. “I think so.”

“You _think_ so?”

“Fuck, Tes I dunno. I mean he’s cool and funny… and hot… like really hot.”

“Sounds like a keeper,” Teresa muttered in a half disinterested voice.

“I guess,” Thomas said, laughing slightly.

“I still can’t believe it.”

“Hm?”

“You leave me for a week and you get yourself knocked up. Tsk tsk, I’m ashamed.”

“You’re just jealous,” Thomas remarked, smiling as he heard Teresa laugh on the other side.

“Damn straight I’m jealous. You got yourself a hot guy whose head over heels for you and you don’t even date him. What the fuck.”

“Naaaah…” It was weird hearing Teresa say that Minho was ‘head over heels’ for him. That was definitely an exaggeration. At best Minho was probably just… ‘interested’ in him at best. “I don’t think he’s that into me anyways.” How could he be? Minho’s way too hot to settle for someone ordinary like himself. Most likely, Minho just wanted to try things out with another guy for once. It made sense. Thomas could relate to the loneliness. He remembered feeling so alone every time he passed by a straight couple holding hands or making out in the hallway of his old school. Thomas learned to numb the feeling and just accept that that kind of thing would probably never happen to him. He could imagine Minho must’ve gone through the same shit. He could imagine Minho kissing and holding random girls at a party in order to act straight amongst his peers. He probably just wanted to know what another guy felt like. Thomas was just lucky he happened to be there when Minho decided to be frisky.

“‘Not into you’ you say… yea right.”

Thomas laughed. “I don’t even know if I really like him like that anyways… so it’s whatever.” It wasn’t necessarily the truth. Thomas found himself imagining Minho’s arms and cocky smile more often than he would like to admit, but that didn’t mean he _liked_ him like that did it?

“No Tom, it’s not ‘whatever,’” Teresa said, suddenly sounding angry. It took Thomas off guard.

“Uh, Tes?” He heard Teresa ugh-ing into the phone.

“Thomas you’re so dumb I swear to god.”

“...What?”

“Tom,” Teresa said with the utmost seriousness in her voice, “I think this Minho guy seriously likes you. You should totally just go for it and quit being such a pansy.”

“What? How would you know? You don’t even know the guy, let alone know what he even looks like.”

“Women’s intuition,” Teresa said simply. “I mean come on Tom isn’t it obvious? He kissed you first. That takes some major balls, and damn if he didn’t like you he wouldn’t have taken that chance.”

“Maybe he was just horny.”

“No, if he was horny he would’ve hooked up or something. You said he was hot right?”

“Yea he’s hot.”

“See? He could’ve easily just hooked up with someone online that he knew was gay for sure. Why take the chance to kiss you?”

“...Maybe it was just an in the moment kinda thing.” Thomas could practically see Teresa rolling her eyes at him right now.

“You’re so dumb. I mean when else are you going to get a chance like this?” _Good point_.

“...I never said it’s _not_ going to happen… I just-- I don’t want to rush into anything. I wanna know him more before… doing anything else.” That was a fair thing to want, wasn’t it? Thomas was beginning to doubt himself.

“Well suit yourself,” Teresa yawned, clearly getting tired of the conversation.

They continued to talk for the next hour about unimportant shit that Thomas couldn’t even remember. They talked about more about the Maze, which also intrigued Teresa just as much as it intrigued Thomas when he first heard about it from Chuck. Teresa boasted about how she could probably become a Runner herself and Thomas wholeheartedly agreed. Teresa’s been whooping his ass, literally and figuratively, since they were kids. Teresa always seemed to be able to beat him at everything he did. If Minho thought Thomas could be a Runner, then without a doubt Teresa could be one too.

“Anyways, I gotta go now,” Thomas said, tapping his desk with an underused pen. “Got too much shit to do.”

“Same actually,” Teresa said. “Talk to you later then.”

“Yea.”

“Remember to actually call me during the week this time dick face.”

“Yea yea I got it.”

“Oh wait, one more thing,” she said suddenly. Just in time too, since Thomas was just about to hang up. “Next time we meet, I got a surprise for you.”

“Oh what is it?”

“I can’t tell you dumbass, don’t you know what a surprise is?”

“Boring…”

Teresa scoffed. “Trust me, it’ll be a good one.”

“Whatever, you say Tes,” he said before saying his goodbyes and hanging up the phone.

The next day Thomas was feeling even happier than usual. He drifted through the day, thinking about Minho more than he would like to admit. More specifically, he wondered what kinds of things made Minho smile. Was he a dog person? Did he like the rain? What kind of stuff does he like to it? Thomas found himself wondering more about what made Minho who he is. He wanted to know more about him.

He passed by Minho a couple of times in the hallway, but it never led to anything. The two of them pretended to be unaware of each other’s presence, which was perfectly fine with Thomas now that he knew about Minho’s dilemma. Alby and Newt, who hung around Minho like he was some sort of prince that needed protection, also made no effort to acknowledge Thomas’s presence. Except for Newt, who gave Thomas a little, barely noticeable, head nod when he walked past Newt and his gang of Gladers. It was a pleasant surprise. Thomas didn’t think Newt would bother, nor did the blond seem to like him very much. It made Thomas happy that Newt seemed to take the chance to acknowledge him when nobody else, not even Minho, would.

But what made Thomas happiest was his phone. During one of his classes, he got a sudden text from a certain, lovable, attractive athlete.

‘Bored.

What about you? :)’

It was simple text, nothing to be excited about, but Thomas practically squealed in his seat. He sent another message to Minho, telling him how the professor was making the classroom look like the end of Macbeth, and Minho responded with a giant ‘LOL’ immediately after.

‘was ur mom mad at u for bringin me’

‘Nah don't worry about it’

Well that was a relief of some sorts. Minho’s mom didn’t look too happy that he just popped up from nowhere, but it looks like it wasn’t too much of a problem after all.The two of them began spamming each other random messages. It was the most fucked up conversation ever, which led absolutely no where. _Wow… he’s actually such a dork_. _Almost as dorky as me._

  


 

Minho was as eager as ever to leave the classroom. Right when the clock hit three, he was already out of his seat and making his way towards the door, other people following his lead. The teacher was trying in vain to give out last minute details about their assignment, but Minho couldn’t care less. He just wanted to see Thomas. Even if Thomas probably didn’t want to see him. 

It was funny really. Minho didn’t think he’d be the type to fall in love with anyone. Like really? Love? What kind of sappy, overhyped nonsense is that? And yet here he was, rushing out the door to see a certain Beanstalk and his stupid shuck-face.  

Before he even left the door, however, a hand gripped his shoulder and pulled him back.

“The shuck?”

“Where you headin’ off to in such a hurry?” It was Newt.

Minho was about to snap at him and tell him he was going off to see Thomas, but he stopped himself. He couldn’t say that… the implications were dangerous.

“...Bathroom.”

“Nice try Minny,” Newt said, unimpressed by Minho’s weak attempt at lying. “You’re going off to train Thomas aren’t ya?”

 _Train Thomas?_ “...Yup. You got me,” Minho said, raising his hands in the air in false surrender. Newt groaned at him.

“What’d I bloody tell ya? I got him today… you already forgot?”

Minho mentally sighed. Shuck. The taller boy slowly nodded to his blond companion, only because he didn’t want to drag the issue. _Best to go along with what he says…_ Minho knew Newt only meant well. Truthfully Minho did feel slightly overwhelmed with the training, the school work, and the tutoring he gets at home. But dammit this was different.

“Bloody hell, I don’t understand how you can keep throwin’ on all these responsibilities on yerself. I mean taking a Greenie under your wing and trainin’ him? You tryin’ to die of exhaustion?”

“As if, I don’t go down easy.”

Newt scoffed. “Keep tellin’ yourself that buddy.” Newt walked past him, gently nudging Minho out of the way so he could go through the door. “First Glader session starts in an hour. Go rest up. I can take care of… Thomas was it?”

Minho nodded again, not bothering to hide his scowl, annoyed that Newt was unintentionally cockblocking him.

“Good that,” Newt said, ignoring Minho’s expression, before walking off to meet with the Beanstalk. Minho internally groaned. So much for meeting Thomas… Shuck this. Minho took out his phone and started to play with it as he made his way to the school gate. He supposed he could just go over and say hi anyways, but then that meant annoying an already overly worried Newt. _I’ll just see him tomorrow I guess._

 

 

 

At the end of the day, Thomas went to the abandoned bathroom, as usual, and waited for Minho to show up. Instead, it was Newt who turned up around the corner. _Oh… right. Newt’s supposed to help me today._ Thomas hid his disappointment and gave a friendly wave. It wasn’t like he didn’t like Newt or anything. He just… wanted Minho’s company. 

“Hey,” Newt said in response to Thomas’s wave.

“Hey how’re you?” Thomas asked politely.

“Tired,” Newt muttered in response, before rubbing his eyes. Thomas didn’t get a chance to respond. “I only got an hour to help you before my own training begins, so let’s jus’ get started, good that?”

“Yea, okay,” Thomas said, crossing his arms over his chest awkwardly. Up close, Newt looked a hell of a lot stronger. From the distance, Newt looked somewhat weeny and thin. But man, the blond was toned as fuck… It was like someone plucked off every chip of fat he had on his body leaving nothing but lean muscle.

“What does Minny-- Minho normally let you do?”

“Well he--” Thomas stopped. Shit, he couldn’t just tell Newt that Minho brought him into the Glader’s gym to train him. “Uhh… we uh-- ran. We ran around the school.” Thomas bit his lip right after the words left his mouth. God he was so stupid.

Newt blinked at him. He sighed, lowering his head, before placing his hands on his hips, a gesture that reminded Thomas of a certain athlete.

“Min, what the shuck are you thinkin’...” Thomas heard Newt mutter to himself. Newt then perked up and looked at Thomas. “Alright Thomas, follow me. You can’t become a Runner by jus’ running. Oddly enough.”

Thomas did what he was told. He wasn’t exactly sure why Newt was bothering to help him anyways. Back at Minho’s house, Newt mentioned something about Minho having too much responsibilities or something, whatever that meant. Thomas wanted to ask him, but decided that now wasn’t the best time. 

Newt took him out to the field. It was a plain, grassy field that had two soccer goalposts on both ends. It wasn’t anything too fancy. The blond then reached out and took out two textbooks from his backpack and placed one of them on the field before walking about 50 steps to place the other book down.

“Greenie, you got two more books?”

“Uh yea,” Thomas said, grabbing two textbooks from his bag. Newt walked towards him and reached out to grab the books. When he did, their hands accidentally brushed against each other. Newt didn’t seem to pay any mind as he walked back and placed the other two books on the field. The four books created the shape that resembled a lightning bolt.

“Here’s what I want you to do,” Newt said, getting right to the point. The blond walked from the first book to the second, touched it, and then walked back to the first book. Then he walked from the first book, to the second, made a 90 degree turn to the third book before returning to the second book, and heading back to the first. The whole time, Newt was silent as Thomas awkwardly watched from the sidelines. “Good that?”

Thomas nodded. Even if Newt didn’t exactly explain what he was supposed to do, it was relatively simple. Just run and touch the books, and turn back.

And so Thomas ran. As he did, he felt somewhat uncomfortable that Newt was watching him the entire time, which affected his performance somewhat. It was dumb, and he knew he shouldn’t let some blond kid get him nervous or anything. But man, Newt was a Runner, and one of Minho’s best friends. He had to make a good impression and show him exactly what he was capable of. But that eagerness to do a good job ended up anchoring his performance rather than helping him.

When he was done, he was pretty out of breath. The books were actually a good distance away from each other, and having to full on sprint the entire time was… tiring. Thomas looked at Newt, only to see an unimpressed expression from the other. Fuck.

“Well, you’re not average,” Newt stated.

“Thanks,” Thomas panted. “I can do better.”

Newt shrugged. “If you say so. Try again in five minutes.”

Thomas could tell Newt wasn’t impressed at all, and boy that was discouraging. _C’mon man, you can do better_. _He’s probably thinking why Minho even bothered to help train me with that kind of fucking performance. You can do this._

The next five minutes was complete silence. Not because Thomas felt awkward or anything, but because Thomas was burning in anticipation. When it was time to begin, Thomas took a deep breath and cleared his mind. He felt himself relaxing and forgetting Newt’s presence. _Go all out. Don’t hold back_. And so he ran. He felt his feet fly across the grass and he already knew that he was going to be far quicker than his last attempt.

When he was done, he walked back to Newt, practically wheezing for air. The other boy had a… neutral expression, which Thomas couldn’t exactly figure out. At least he didn’t look unimpressed.

“You were right about doing better,” Newt said. If the blond boy was impressed, he sure as hell didn’t show it. It didn’t bug Thomas as much as he thought it would. He was just happy that he did his best, and what more could you do other than that? 

Thomas sat by next to Newt as he let himself recover from the last sprint.

“What’s… next?” Thomas panted.

Newt didn’t say anything at first. “...Other stuff.”

“Nice answer,” Thomas remarked. Newt didn’t respond to it, and Thomas instantly felt so much awkwarder. Maybe Newt wasn’t exactly the joking type? Thomas didn’t make another attempt at talking to Newt. He was getting the impression that Newt didn’t really like him very much.

“What’d you think of Minho?” Newt asked suddenly. Thomas didn’t immediately, as he was too busy being surprised that Newt actually initiated a conversation.

“Uh…” Thomas blubbered, before clearing his throat. “He’s cool, I guess?” _I also think I may… just a tiny bit… have a sort of thing resembling a crush on him._

“How long have you known him for?”

“Uhm… a couple of years?”

“Define ‘a couple.’”

“Like... six or seven-ish?” Thomas lied, wondering what Newt’s deal was. Why the sudden interest?

Newt hummed, which put Thomas slightly at ease.

“But you never spoke to him?”

“...No we just--uh… started talking about last week.”

“I see. Sarcastic little shuck isn’t he?” Newt said, the tone of his voice softening. Thomas was glad he stopped sounding like an interrogator.

“Yea he is,” Thomas said with a smile, feeling a little bit more comfortable with the other.

“He used to be such a prick back when we were kids. I didn’t like his sarcasm then. Everything that came out of his pie-hole sounded like a bloody insult to me,” Newt said, ripping off a few blades of grass.

“He’s still kind of a prick,” Thomas joked. _A lovable one._ Thomas saw the corners of Newt’s lips curve into a smile.

“True that.” Newt threw off the blades of grass that he collected in his hand to the side, before he began ripping off more. “And to make it worse, the bloke’s got a knack for gettin’ himself into trouble. He’s such a burden…”

Thomas didn’t know what to say to that, since Thomas barely knew Minho himself. “Is he?”

Newt sighed. “Yea. Once he got himself in trouble trying to cover up for one of our Runners. Stupid shuck accidentally caused the fire alarm to start ringin’, and Minho took all the blame for it.”

 _Wow that was… nice of him_. “Did he now…”

“Yup. That shank can’t seem to stop getting himself thrown into trouble, even when he has a klunk-ton of his own problems to deal with.”

Suddenly Newt turned towards Thomas and looked at him straight in the eye, leaning in a bit closer so that their faces were about a ruler’s distance apart. It took the brunette by surprise.

“So I’m gonna ask you for a favor, Greenie,” Newt began. “Watch out for him will ya? Next time he’s with ya just… watch him. Guy’s got more on his plate then you know.”

Thomas nodded at him, which resulting in a friendly smile from Newt.

“Good that. I knew I could count on ya.”

Then the blond stood up and stretched his back before offering a hand to Thomas. The brunet took it, and got up from the ground. Newt’s hands were surprisingly soft.

“Let’s get you started on your next exercise.”

 

The next few weeks went by without any drama, each day being pretty much the same as the next. Thomas would tell Chuck about his moments with the Gladers, which would result in a very excited and maybe slightly envious Chuck. In return, Chuck would tell Thomas about the happenings of the school, who did what with who and all that crap. Man, things were always happening in this school. Minho wasn’t lying when he said Wicked loved controversy. Chuck told him to take everything as a grain of salt, since most of the stuff are just rumours. Thomas remembered the first time he met the kid and how he wondered how Chuck knew a new kid was coming to school. Chuck told him rumours spread like wildfire in this place and boy was he right. 

Thomas would meet Minho and Newt individually on an alternating schedule every day after school. Admittedly, the days where he got to be with Minho were his favorites. Getting to be with the tanned male was honestly one of the only reasons he why he looked forward to going to school. Honestly, the whole notion of ‘training’ was pretty much forgotten when they were together. They would spend their entire hour talking about random shit and making wisecracks at one another. It was fun.

  


 

Minho, on the other hand, found most of their meetings to be incredibly awkward. Not because talking to Thomas was difficult, but because he had to constantly fight the urge to touch him. And every time he made Thomas laugh, he would get a flurry of butterflies in his stomach and an incredible urge to pull Thomas into a kiss he had been craving for since the first time they did it. He fought off the urge every single time, and every time he did he was reminded of how Thomas probably didn’t like him. He was a wreck. His mind would constantly switch to: _He doesn’t like you_ to _He does like you, but he just wants to take it slow_. It was agony. But Minho didn’t show it. It wasn’t hard. Being with Thomas made him happy, so it was easy to hide his feelings. But for shuck’s sake he loved him. He never felt such an incredible desire to just hold someone’s hand before until now. It shucking hurts.

  


 

It was the middle of the second month of school, and things haven’t really changed since the beginning. Thomas would meet with Chuck every morning, and eat lunch with him. He would constantly text Minho and the two of them would send a flurry of random messages to each other throughout the day. He would occasionally greet Newt, who, Thomas could tell, was beginning to grow on him. And every week he would call Teresa and give her an update on his life, only to be back lashed by her for not jumping the gun and getting together with Minho already. Thomas thought about it often. What it would be like to be in an actual relationship with him. There were times when he considered asking Minho out on a date, but every time he was struck with fear. Every time he gathered the courage to ask if Minho wanted to…be his partner, he would tell himself that… everything was too good to be true. He would wonder if Minho truly and actually liked him. After all, someone as hot and irresistible and perfect as Minho, going for the average Greenie like him? It was a stupid thought, admittedly… but it scared him. Everything was good the way it is… There was no way Minho liked him as much as Thomas liked him. That would be too perfect.

Thomas trudged to his seat and yawned. It was a Monday, and he spent most of his night working on an assignment that was due today. The other students dragged themselves into the homeroom too, looking equally as drained. Minho didn’t look too sleep deprived when he walked into the room. Surprisingly neither did Newt. Chuck on the other hand looked like a living corpse with heavy bags under his eyes.

“Morning…” Chuck groaned as he walked past Thomas.

“And what a good morning it is.”

Normally Chuck would’ve laughed, but today he just gave a weak smile before shambling his way to his seat. Poor kid.

Then the Homeroom teacher came in, as brisk as always and slammed a pile of papers on her desk. Nobody stirred.

“Class, I have an announcement to make.”

Thomas yawned again, and forced himself to listen to whatever this announcement was. For some reason the teacher looked out of breath, and her hair was messier than usual.

“Now… This may come as a--” she swallowed, “--a huge surprise for everyone but…” She gestured towards the door. Thomas watched as a girl with ink, black hair and a familiarly fit frame walked into the classroom. His jaw dropped open.

“Starting from today, we have a new student in our midsts.”

The classroom began to stir as people started to whisper to each other. Despite how everyone was dead tired before, the classroom was riddled with chatter and whispers. Thomas zoned out most, if not all, of the noise, still gobsmacked by the person in front of him.

“Hi everyone. My name is Teresa Agnes.” She looked at Thomas and gave him a quick wink. Thomas didn’t even notice the uproar of whispers behind him, because of the wink. “Pleasure to meet you all.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well I hope that wasn't too much of a chore to read haha!!  
> Thank you all once again for sticking around. I first began writing this just to fulfil my need for thominho, and now you guys are like 60% of the reason why I continue to write this haha :'D
> 
> I hope you like my characterization of Teresa. Idk but I didn't really like how she was characterized in the books, and well... I wanted to make her stronger, brasher and more confident. And hey, I guess when you aren't running from Grievers and trying to fight for your life, you'd behave differently yea? I hope Teresa wasn't TOO OOC for you.
> 
> Hmm there are just so many questions left unanswered at this point right?  
> Why is Thomas such a damn idiot? Why does Thomas hate his mom so much? Why is mama Newt so overprotective over Minho?
> 
> Anyways, the next update will come around in 2-3 weeks. Thanks for being bros :D  
> If you have any questions about anything just tell me. Idk why but I have a feeling that i left out some details, but i cant remember what they were... so if anything comes out as a surprise or something confuses you, just tell me.


	8. Challenge

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! It's been about 3 weeks yea? So here's a chapter woot woot  
> This chapter's pretty plot heavy... hope you guys find it at least somewhat interesting lol.
> 
> I don't really have much to say but uh... enjoy? Haha

Thomas couldn’t believe it. He wouldn’t believe it. Even as Teresa proceeded to follow him into all his classes (coincidentally they had the exact same schedule), he refused to acknowledge Teresa’s presence. Only because admitting that Teresa was actually in the same school as him was too perfect. It was too good to be true. He had his first gay experience with a sex god; and now Teresa, his closest childhood friend, transferred to the same high school as him? Everything was too good. Surely that meant something terrible was going to happen to him down the line. Good things couldn’t keep happening to him forever.

It was lunch. The entire student population was in a hushed, quiet uproar. Thomas knew Wicked was talking shit about them behind their backs. For the past month, Thomas shrugged off the weird glances and murmurs when he passed by his peers down the hallway. He found it humorous how they actually thought Thomas didn’t know they were making fun of him. Now, Wicked didn’t even try to make an effort to hide their gossip from him. They giggled, and made stupid noises as Thomas walked past them. Teresa didn’t seem disturbed. In fact, she seemed to be enjoying the random hate they had been getting.

“Uhhmm… so are you two…?” Chuck asked, poking his two index fingers together. Thomas, Teresa, and Chuck were sitting in their usual, isolated table that was situated in the corner of the cafeteria. Thomas could feel eyes on them, but did his best to ignore it.

“Me and Tom? Nope,” Teresa stated simply, before biting into her sandwich.

“Oh. Okay,” Chuck replied, clearly uncomfortable with Teresa’s presence. The girl didn’t seem to care.

“Tes,” Thomas suddenly said, cutting into their conversation. “Let’s see… how do I put this…” he began, “...What the fuck are you doing here?”

Teresa smiled at him. “It’s about time you asked.”

“Just answer my question.”

“Maybe if you ask nicely, I will.”

“Hah, no.”

Teresa laughed, before taking a napkin and wiping her mouth with it. “Well… I transferred schools.”

Thomas groaned. “Yea I know that but… how? Uhm, why?”

“For you,” she said bluntly. If Thomas was straight, he’d probably feel flustered. “Home’s too boring without you, and I’m not as close to Aris as I am with you.” She stopped before taking another small bite of her sandwich. “Plus, we’ve been in the same school since the beginning of time… we may as well graduate together at least.”

Chuck squinted at the both of them, his cheeks reddening slightly. “Uhh… are you… _sure_ you guys aren’t--”

“Nope,” they both said in unison.

Thomas didn’t know if he should _be_ flattered or creeped out. It was nice seeing Teresa again, truly it was. But… damn. An outsider would think that Teresa following him across the country would be just a tad bit obsessive.

“How are you even staying here?” Thomas asked, still dubious that Teresa was actually right here in front of him. He swore, if this turned out to be one huge dream, he was _certainly_ going to flip.

“Host family,” she stated. “It wasn’t hard, my dad’s got some connections. Plus I got pretty decent grades… this school doesn’t have any real reason to reject me.” When she finished eating, she wiped her hands on her napkin before wiping her mouth with it again. “By the way, what’s up with this place? Everyone’s such a hater,” she said with a laugh.

“Tell me about it. It’s so stupid.” Finally another person besides Chuck who could relate to the school’s foul, judgmental atmosphere.

“They don’t like us ‘cuz they they think we’re shanky Greenies,” Chuck explained.

“Just because we’re new? That’s so vain,” Teresa said with a laugh. “Whatever, it’s pretty funny.” Thomas could see Chuck smiling, his plump cheeks reddening again, as Teresa laughed. When she stopped, she cleared her throat and looked at Thomas. “So… about this Minho guy…”

Teresa made a sharp glance towards Chuck, and then looked at Thomas again. Thomas shook his head and Teresa nodded. She took out a notebook and a pen from her backpack and began scribbling on it. Chuck was clearly confused and didn’t know what was happening at all. She passed the notebook to Thomas, along with her pen.

Thomas looked at the note, smiling at the little message she made. Chuck leaned over to read what was written, and was visibly disappointed at what he saw.

“Erm, what’s that?” Chuck asked.

“Nothing important,” Thomas said as he grabbed her pen and began scribbling something down as well.

“Lies,” Chuck said, pouting.

It made Thomas happy to see these familiar letters again. To everybody else it would’ve looked like a random arrangement of symbols. When the two of them were just about at the end of their elementary school career, Teresa decided that it would be real cool if they both had their own little language. Thomas agreed, and somehow that gave birth to their little private messaging system. Basically, each symbol represented a letter in the English alphabet, so it was just like that useless wingding font on Word.

‘You guys datin yet’ was Teresa’s message.

‘No’ he scribbled back.

Teresa groaned at him and rolled her eyes in an exaggerated manner. ‘What are u even waitin for. It’s been a month’

“I want to get to know him better,” Thomas said aloud. “No rush.”

‘You can get to kno him and date him at the same time’ Teresa wrote back, while Chuck huh-ed in the background. The poor guy really had no idea what was happening. Thomas felt guilty leaving him out of the conversation.

“I guess but, I don’t wanna get myself into anything I’ll regret.”

“So you’re scared?” Teresa asked, with a slight accusatory tone that Thomas wasn’t expecting.

“Uh.” Thomas swallowed. Was he scared?

“Ugh Tom…” Teresa sighed, before placing her hand on top of his on the table. “You can’t let your mom’s mistakes haunt you forever. You’ve always complained about when you’d get your chance. Well here it is. Just go for it,” she said with a surprising amount of sincerity in her voice. It took Thomas aback.

“... Are you _really really_ sure you guys aren’t--”

“No, I’m not with Tom,” Teresa snapped, visibly frustrated. It was hard to tell whether she was frustrated at Thomas or Chuck. Maybe both.

“Okay. I think you’re right,” Thomas hummed. There was no point in denying his attraction to Minho. And so far, they’ve worked pretty well as random ass friends… maybe it was time to take this a step further. Just the mere idea of being in a relationship with the athlete got him giddy. Dammit, he could feel himself blushing right now in front of Teresa, how embarrassing.

  
  


“She is _hot_. Like seriously… _really hot_ ,” Gally mumbled, his elbows propped up on the table supporting his head. Minho was sitting with him along with the rest of his Gladers, in addition to several other wannabe athletes who pretended to be ‘bros’ amongst the Runners.

“Yea, I dig it,” Alby said simply.

“Hah I bet you would,” Gally snickered. Minho mentally rolled his eyes.

“Ugh, gross,” Brenda stated as she poked through her pasta.

“She sure is pretty though,” Frypan commented before walking behind Minho and giving him a good ole pat on the back. “She good enough for you, man?”

Thankfully, Minho didn’t have to respond. Newt already had his back. “Ain’t nobody in the world whose good ‘nough for Minny,” he joked. Minho silently thanked Newt for coming to his rescue. He was not in the mood to talk.

Going through the whole day hearing about how ‘good’ the Greenies looked together dampened his mood to unfathomable levels. He shouldn’t be mad. Technically, Thomas _did_ practically confirm that they weren’t exactly together. He “just needed time” or whatever shucking bullcrap he said. Well was this what he meant by needing time? Minho didn’t necessarily believe that Teresa and Thomas were an item, but the more people talked about it the more he thought about it and the angrier he got. Was he just Plan B then? Did Thomas need time to sort out his feelings with this… _girl_. Maybe if he couldn’t get into her pants, the Beanstalk would at least have Minho to shuck around with... right?

He’d never felt this hurt before in his life. So used. He was fuming. Admittedly, he recognized that everything could just be in his head, but… the way the two talked to each other… the chemistry was so damn obvious. Did Thomas even like him? He was beginning to doubt it more and more with each passing day, hour, second. He considered texting Thomas to ask him for sure but… he didn’t want to be a bother. Nor did he want to appear needy. And he wasn’t sure if he would be able to take it if it was true that Thomas was together with that girl. He wasn’t even sure if he’d be able to handle Thomas not reciprocating the same feelings he felt. Why was this so shucked up and complicated? He thought everything would be picture perfect the moment Thomas kissed him back a month ago. _Guess not..._

Since the beginning of their lunch break, Minho had been staring at the Greenies’ table, trying to ignore the conversations that happened in his own table. He watched as Thomas laughed with that girl. When he saw them holding hands, he sank his nails so deep into his palms he could’ve sworn he drew blood. This wasn’t fair. It was supposed to be him beside Thomas, not her.

Minho knew right from the beginning how stupid it was to talk to Thomas. Mr. Popular getting together with the Greenie… what a joke. He didn’t even think about the consequences of kissing Thomas. He’d really let this shuck-faced Greenie get to his head. He risked so much to be with that damn Beanstalk, and all he got from it was a single moment of heated passion and a whole lot of hurt.

And the fact that irritated him the most was that Minho still didn’t care. Every inch of his being told him to drop the Greenie. Especially now. Thomas probably had someone else… what was he even hoping for? Continuing this… whatever-the-shuck-this-was was as redundant as teaching a fish how to walk. But all of that didn’t matter. He just wanted to hold his hand, like what Teresa was doing right now. He wanted it. He wanted it so badly, there were even times when he thought that he wouldn’t care if Wicked or his parents found out about him. He just wanted to hold his hand again.

“Alright, I’m gonna do it,” Gally announced suddenly, which snapped Minho back into reality. Damn… what was he thinking. Of course he should care if Wicked and/or his parents found out about him. Thomas was really shucking up his decisions.

“Yea go ahead,” Alby joked, clearly doubting Gally’s courage to actually ‘do’ whatever he was going to do.

“I am,” Gally said, puffing out his chest and standing up suddenly.

“Woah, you’re actually going to--?” Alby said.

“Gally, sit down,” Brenda commanded, unimpressed with the other’s decision. “Don’t be dumb.”

“Nuh uh, no way. There’s no way I’m lettin’ someone that pretty be with someone as lame as that sack of shuck.” Minho fought every urge to stand up and give Gally a good ole punch to his face. Gally ignored the pleas of his fellow Gladers, as he began to make his way to the isolated table in the corner.

“Soooociiaaall suiiiiciideee~,” Frypan sang.

“This’ll end well,” Brenda remarked sarcastically, before taking a sip from her carton of apple juice. She turned towards Alby with a slight look of concern on her face. Alby nodded.

“Don’t worry, I’m watchin ‘im,” he said in his attempt to reassure her.

For a moment, Minho actually envied Gally. How could he have the courage to go up and talk to the person he liked? Oh right. Gally’s straight, he totally forgot. At best, they’d backtalk Gally for a week or two for even bothering to talk to a Greenie, but hey… that wasn’t too bad

  


 

“Hey, psstt,” Chuck said, interrupting their conversation suddenly. “Gally’s comin’ our way,” he whispered with an astonishing amount of urgency. 

“Gar-who?” Thomas asked. He spun around to see someone, with a pretty big build and sandy blonde hair walking towards them. He had a certain swagger to his walk, which Thomas honestly found pretty lame. Over the top much? Thomas watched as this ‘Gally’ person came up to their table and slid his hand on the table, turning towards Teresa, his back facing Thomas. This Gally dude literally tried to slid in between the space between Thomas and Teresa in order to cut them off. Thomas was not impressed. He noticed how the cafeteria got slightly quieter, and he could feel even more stares on them now.

“Hey,” Gally said in a voice that attempted to be as suave as possible. Teresa smiled at him, but Thomas knew she was rolling her eyes in her head.

“Hello,” she said politely in response.

“You the new girl yea?”

“I think so,” Teresa said with a laugh. Even though Thomas was looking at Gally’s back, he knew that the sandy blonde boy was extra giddy about making Teresa laugh. Gally was probably smirking in his head. He probably thought that laugh meant that Teresa was interested in him. Boy, Thomas almost felt sorry for him. He noticed Chuck shifting uncomfortably in his seat as Tes and Gally continued their little conversation.

“Heh, must be hard being new. Bet ya probably got lost a couple’o times eh?”

Teresa shook her head, with her smile still intact. “Nope, thankfully I got Thomas here to help me.”

Gally spun around and gave Thomas a hard glare. Thomas stared back at him with a straight face, despite feeling somewhat intimidated. _Gee, thanks for that Tes._ _Definitely needed a stranger to hate my guts for no reason_. Teresa made a small laugh, which made Gally turn back towards her. Thomas was glad she was at least enjoying this.

“Bet ya he doesn’t know where all the cool places to hang are,” Gally accused. “Little girl like you could use a real man to show ya around.” Thomas found it pretty hilarious how this Gally person sounded so butthurt over the fact that Teresa already had someone to show her around the school. And seriously? _Little girl?_ Who did this asswipe think he was? He looked at Chuck to see if he also thought it was funny. To his surprise, Chuck seemed incredibly anxious.

Teresa laughed and just shrugged her shoulders, purposefully ignoring his derogatory statement. “Alright,” she said simply. It was obvious that she wasn’t taking any of this seriously, and hopefully Gally would get the message pretty soon. Too bad he didn’t. _Come on man. Take a hint, she isn’t interested._

“Name’s Gally by the way,” he said.

“I’m Teresa.”

Thomas watched as a moment of silence washed over the two. Teresa was, clearly, waiting for Gally to leave, and Gally was obviously trying to think of something to say.

“And I’m one of them Runners, just so you know,” he added, probably in hopes of scoring some extra brownie points. There was an irritating cockiness in his voice. _Ugh, lame_.

“Oh well that’s nice,” Teresa said, quickly dismissing Gally’s attempt to impress. There was another brief moment of silence. Thomas assumed Gally was shocked by Teresa’s uninterested reaction to him being a Runner.

“Uhh… yea, you _do_ know what a Runner is right?”

Teresa was practically forcing herself to smile at this point. “Yes. Tom told me about it. _Super_ impressive,” she said sarcastically. Thomas saw Gally’s hands clench into fists. The brunette heard Chuck ‘eep’ next to him. _Oh boy was this getting good._

Gally took a step back, his face reddening slightly. “Hah, I don’t think you know who you’re dealin’ with Greenie.”

“Who _I’m_ dealing with?” Teresa asked, her head tilting to the side in feigned naivety. “I think I’m dealing with a wannabe gold star, what do you think Tom? Chuck?” Thomas smiled, amused about the whole thing. Chuck on the other hand, was paler than plaster.

“Wan-Wannabe?...” he stammered, his lips quivering unnaturally for a few brief seconds.. “...Wannabe?!!” Gally’s voice boomed. His voice bounced off the walls, and instantly the cafeteria went silent. Thomas’s smile faded instantly.

 _Ah shit._ Thomas looked around, only to see that every single person who was in the room was looking at them now. This went from funny to serious real fucking fast. Out of the corner of his eye he saw someone stand up from the Runner’s table.

“Who’re you callin’ a _wannabe?!_ ” Gally’s face was getting redder and redder by the second. _Ahh Tes, don’t do anything stupid. You probably hit a nerve, so just back off._ Teresa looked completely unfazed.

“...You deaf as well as stupid?” _God dammit._

Before Gally could react, a strong hand gripped the boy’s shoulder and pulled him back with such force, Gally nearly tripped. It was Alby.

“Heyy,” Alby hummed. His eyes traced the three Greenies in front of him, before he turned to Gally, who was visibly ashamed of being held back by Ably. “Sorry ‘bout that.” He blinked at Gally and gave him a very cold, unamused face, before turning to face Thomas, Teresa and Chuck again. “Gally ‘ere has a bit of a temper problem.” Thomas watched as Alby’s grip on Gally’s shoulder tightened, probably to ensure that Gally kept his trap shut.

“That’s okay,” Thomas said, before Teresa could say anything stupid. Teresa gave him an unimpressed stare that seemed to say ‘I can handle this myself.’ _Hah, no you can’t._ “It’s all good, I mean… even Runners have problems right?”

Thomas could feel the color drain from his face. _Shit, that did not come out right at all_. Gally looked particularly offended.

“What’d you shuckin’ say?” Gally muttered. He attempted to step forward, but was held back by Alby’s powerful arm.

“Now now,” Alby said, squeezing Gally’s shoulder.

Thomas stood up, raising his hands and showing his open palms. “I only meant--”

“He means go fuck yourself,” Teresa interjected. The suddenness of her comment took everyone by surprise. Thomas could feel cold sweat form from his back. _Teresa… no. Why?_ “You think you’re sooo cool just because you have the title of ‘Runner’ slapped on your ass. Get real.” Teresa stood up from the table and made her way towards the two Runners, so that she was a mere few steps away from them. “You’re nothing special.”

 _Ahh fuck._ That did it. Thomas could see veins popping from the side of Gally’s head.

“Hey--” Before Alby could finish, Gally pushed the darker skinned male back with such force, he actually fell back and landed on his ass. That was… frightening. Alby was physically larger, and looked way heavier than Gally. To think that Gally actually had the strength to push Alby back, was… unexpected. The suddenness of the moment took Thomas completely off guard.

He was so caught up in the moment, he didn’t notice Gally charging towards… _him?_ He didn’t even have time to question why Gally was aiming for him, when it was Teresa who insulted him. Instinctively, he held up his arms over his face, ready to defend himself against whatever Gally wanted to do to him. Years of being thrown around by Teresa and Aris had prepared him well.

But right before Gally even came close, Teresa stepped in. Gally didn’t stop. He raised his left arm, ready to swing his arm to smack Teresa away. And he swung.

Teresa ducked under Gally’s arm and lurched forward. With the calmest of demeanors, she gave a swift kick to Gally’s ankle, knocking the boy off balance. And just like that, Gally tripped. Face first onto the tiled floor, with a loud smack. As Gally groaned, Thomas could feel the tension in the air skyrocket to levels off the charts. Everyone was staring at them now in complete shock. He heard footsteps approaching them and looked up. It was the Gladers. Minho included. Alby was up on his feet again, his face was shameless as if nobody saw him get pushed out of the way. He stood behind Minho with the rest of the Gladers.

In any other circumstances, Thomas would’ve been ecstatic to see Minho, but not today. Not now. Minho looked pissed.

“Gally.” Minho’s voice had such ferocity behind it, Thomas himself felt like cowering in his presence.

Gally clenched his fists and rose up, his face burning in shame and anger. “You…” Gally’s voice was cracked and unstable. Suddenly he charged again, shrieking profanities as he did. His arms were stretched out, aiming to grab Teresa no doubt. Minho, Newt and some girl Thomas didn’t recognize all began to move to disable the angered adolescent, but Teresa was already on it. Instead of backing off, Teresa stepped forward towards Gally, keeping her knees bent and her arms close to her side. Gally swung his arms in an attempt to grab the girl. Teresa easily dodged his attack, calmly sidestepping away, as Gally charged. Before Gally could react, Teresa kicked the back of Gally’s knee, causing him to fall once again. Thomas had seen Teresa fight many times before, but even now he was still amazed just from watching her move. She made everything seem so effortless. Thomas didn’t have to look at anyone to know that they were all in awe too.

Once Gally hit the floor, Teresa began to make her way behind the Runner, probably preparing to pull Gally into a chokehold if need be. Before she could, however, Minho’s voice boomed.

“ _Enough_!”

Teresa snapped her head towards the voice, completely unintimidated. Gally, on the other hand, instantly froze.

“Not my problem if you can’t teach your monkey how to sit,” she muttered. Teresa and Minho exchanged glares. The intense atmosphere between them was scary. Thomas gulped. He’d never seen Minho so angry before. Thomas couldn’t exactly blame him. Teresa literally just knocked Gally over. _Twice_. A Runner, who was supposed to be the image of physical perfection, able to adapt and to handle any kind of situation thrown at them, according to Chuck at least. And here was Teresa… a fresh Greenie who easily took down one of the Runners. One of Minho’s Gladers. Of course Minho was angry. They made a fool out of the Gladers.

It must be such a shock to the Gladers. To everyone in the cafeteria. It was almost funny. They had no idea what Teresa was capable of.

“Just who do you think you are?” The girl who stood by Minho said. Her black hair was in a ponytail, and her arms were crossed over her chest. She was looking directly at Teresa, her eyes leering at her.

“Nobody special,” Thomas interjected before Teresa could reply. They’ve already made quite the scene… he’d rather Teresa not fan the flames of this situation. He looked at Minho, who was still glaring daggers at Teresa. Despite everything, Minho looked rather sexy when he was mad. It was pretty edgy. _Okay Thomas, now’s not the time_. “Sorry about everything.” He rubbed the back of his head.

Minho shifted his eyes to Thomas. Instantly, Minho’s face softened slightly once their eyes met, before his scowl returned and his eyes hardened into a glare once more.

“I wasn’t talking to you, was I?” The girl beside Minho snapped. “You’re obviously nobody special, I’m talking about the Green girl next to you.” _Oh wow, talk about rude._

“Well you’re a bit of a bitch aren’t you?” Teresa snapped back. Thomas gave his companion a sour look, even though he was somewhat thankful that she backed him up. _Really Tes? Is now the best time?_

“Where’d you learn to do that?” The girl asked, ignoring Teresa’s comment.

“I don’t owe you anything,” Teresa said, crossing her arms.

“Just answer the question, you stick.”

“Stick?” Teresa said, mocking the other girl’s vocabulary. “Can you believe this Tom?”

“Don’t make this harder than it needs to be,” a familiar voice said. It was Newt. “We’re asking nicely for you to--”

“Nicely? Ganging up on us is hardly what I would call ‘nice.’”

“Throwing our friend to the ground isn’t exactly nice either,” The Glader girl snapped back.

“Well maybe if you kept him in line, it wouldn’t have ended that way.” Thomas could see Teresa getting steadily more irritated by the second.

  
  


Minho was already fed up with this girl before this whole Gally fiasco started. He didn’t bother trying to hide his anger towards this black haired shank.

“You’re the one who needs to keep in line you shuck-nosed shank,” Minho blurted, his voice seething with spite. His huge, bulky arms were crossed over his chest, mainly in order to keep himself from lashing out physically, at the girl. His hands gripped his arms with such intensity, he could practically feel his veins popping out. He kept his sight on Teresa and tried his best to ignore Thomas’s presence. He couldn’t handle looking at Thomas. Not now.

Teresa shifted her gaze from Brenda to Minho, rolling her eyes in the process. God, he hated her already.

“Me? I’m in my line. Where’s yours?”

“The shuck you talkin’ ‘bout?”

Teresa ugh-ed, as if she couldn’t believe she had to spell out something so simple. It was infuriating. Minho’s nails dug into his arms in his attempt to keep himself cool.

“Ey, Tes. I think that’s eno--”

“I’m talking about _your_ line. Do you even have one? No? Oh yea, I forgot. You’re the big bad Runner who can get away with anything,” Teresa continued. Minho fumed. Get away with anything? This shucked up shank had no shucking idea. She was wrong, so incredibly wrong, he didn’t even know where to start. If anything, it was him who had to watch his actions the most. These shucking Greenies could do whatever they wanted and it wouldn’t matter because everyone hated them anyways, and they were so insignificant that nobody would bother to pay attention to them anyways. Minho had constant eyes on him. How dare she. How dare she say that he could ‘get away with anything.’

“And the truth is… you guys aren’t even that special,” Teresa stated.

“What? You think _you_ can do what we do?” Alby scoffed, as he stood behind Minho. The athlete smiled. _Took the words right outta my mouth._

Teresa nodded without hesitation. “Anyone can. Hard work prevails when talent fails to work hard.” She had the same kind of eyes Thomas had. Full of confidence and an irritating amount of determination. “And I can prove it.”

Minho sharpened his glare at her. “Prove it?”

She flashed a smile, before Thomas came up next to her and placed his hand on her shoulder.

“Tes I know where you’re going with this and--”

“Let’s play a game,” she continued, ignoring Thomas’s interruption. Several gasps could be heard from the crowd of bystanders.

“You challengin’ us?” Alby scoffed, with a slight laugh at the end.

“You scared?” Teresa scoffed back. Minho didn’t have to see it, but he knew Alby’s smile instantly disappeared. The once deathly quiet cafeteria was now buzzing with whispers. There was no going back now.

“I’ll play your game,” Minho said, his voice laced with animosity. Not like he had a choice. Turn down a Greenie’s challenge in front of the entirety of Wicked? Shuck that. And now that he accepted, there was no way he could lose. He would not lose. Not to this duck-headed shank. Not in front of them.

“One week from today, you and your Runner friends meet me and Tom out in the field after school. We’ll play there.” _Thomas?_

“And what sort of ‘game’ are we playing?” Brenda inquired.

“Guess you’ll find out on the day,” Teresa said with an aggravating smile. “Aren’t you Runners supposed to be able to do anything? Adapt to anything? That is the point of The Maze Runner isn’t it?”

“You know a lot for a Greenie,” Brenda said, her head tilted slightly to the side, one of her eyebrows raised slightly.

“Guess that’s my fault,” Thomas said with a slight laugh, in his weak attempt to make light of the situation. Minho stole a quick glance at the Beanstalk. He didn’t seem troubled at all. Of course he didn’t… he’s a Greenie. He had nothing to lose in this challenge. But if Minho lost…

He forced himself to look back at Teresa. He hated her.

It was then that the bell rang, breaking the tension between the Gladers and the Greenies. It was the 5minute bell, which rang 5 minutes before the end of break to ensure that students get to class on time. Without a word, Teresa turned around to grab her things. Minho felt Thomas’s eyes glaze over him, and ignored it. His hands clenched into fists.

He felt someone give two pats on his back. It was Newt.

“C’mon, let’s go,” the blond boy said, before turning around to get his things, the other Runners going off to do the same. Minho didn’t reply, and simply followed his friend back to their table.

  
  


“I can’t believe you did that,” Thomas said, as he walked beside Teresa and Chuck, whose face was smothered in gloom. It was a lie. To be honest, Thomas had a feeling something like this would happen. He figured Teresa would make an enemy or two on her first day here. That much was to be expected. She had a knack for getting them into trouble. But, challenging the Gladers? Talk about ballsy.

“Hey, they started it,” Teresa said with a laugh.

“That ain’t completely true…”

“Whatever,” Teresa hummed. “I’m sick of being looked down on anyways.”  _You've only been here for a day. Imagine how I feel._

As they walked, several of their classmates openly mocked them about how they were ‘going to get destroyed’ next week by the Gladers or something like that, while others just stood and stared. Thomas could already tell that rumours about them were flying. News of this ‘challenge’ that Teresa issued against the Gladers was probably the hot topic right now. Not that he could blame them. Greenies versus Gladers had a nice ring to it anyways. Thomas and Teresa paid no mind to it, but Thomas noticed Chuck looking visibly more dejected with every remark hurled at them.

“Hey… don’t mind them,” Thomas said in his attempt to comfort the other.

“It’s not that…” Chuck muttered. “It’s just…” Chuck suddenly ran up and stood in front of Teresa, causing the girl to stop in her tracks. “Did you mean it?”

“...Did I mean what?”

“When you said that hard work beats talent… did you mean it?”

Teresa blinked at him before giving him a warm smile. “Of course. Just look at Tom over here.”

“What do you mean…?” _Oh great, she’s going to bring this up again_.

“See, when me and Tom were young… we used to play this game called Tumbleweed with our friends.” She flashed a smile at Thomas, which the brunet ignored. “There’s this guy named Aris who would win that game almost every single time. Sometimes I’ll win too but it was mostly Aris who won. Tom here lost every single time. He used to cry about it you know. A lot too. Like--”

“Yea okay whatever I cried when I was a kid, big whoop.” 

Teresa laughed, which made Chuck smile a bit more.

“Well… anyways Tom hated that game. He hated how he always lost. He hated how Aris just seemed to be naturally good at it. And so he practiced. He practiced even after we all stopped playing the game and moved on to more interesting games.”

“Let me guess… Eventually Thomas got good enough to beat this Aris guy?”

Teresa shrugged. “More or less yea. But the point is… Tom here never stopped trying like the stubborn little goat he is. Do you know how long it took for him to beat Aris?” 

Chuck hummed. “Mm… a month?”

“Two years,” Teresa said with a laugh. Thomas mentally groaned. “Can you believe it? Two whole damn years. Tom didn’t stop trying for two whole years!”

“Hey, don’t laugh. It was the most exhausting two years of my life,” Thomas retorted. Teresa began to laugh and soon Chuck joined in as well.

“You think… maybe I could… help you next week?” Chuck mumbled slowly, as if he expected Teresa to reject him. “I want to… play this game too. I want to help. I know I’m slow and chubby and not as smart and fit as you guys and I always mess up everything and you probably don’t even need me but--”

“Are you kidding? We’d be honoured to have you with us,” Teresa said. Thomas placed his hand on Chuck’s shoulder in an attempt to console him. The boy was anxious, Thomas could tell. Teresa faced Chuck with a stern look in her eyes. “And don’t you ever say that about yourself again. Not like that. Do you hear me?”

Chuck gulped, before slowly nodding his head.

Afterwards they separated and went to their classes. Chuck asked more about the ‘game’ they were playing next week. Teresa didn’t give him a straight answer, but promised to help him prepare for it throughout the week. Chuck’s courage to join them in their game against the Gladers gave Thomas a strange sense of pride.

Honestly, Thomas was pumped. He already knew what game Teresa wanted to play, and he was ready for it. Unlike Teresa, he respected the Runners and their wide range of abilities. If there was anything Thomas could beat them at, it was this game. He was excited. As much as he hated to admit it, he was mostly excited because he couldn’t wait to see the look on Wicked’s faces when he wins. He was damn tired of being treated like a sack of dirt just because he was the new guy in town. He hated being looked down upon. He wanted to show everyone just what exactly he was capable of.

But then he thought of Minho.

The thought didn’t occur to him until it was after school. Thomas was waiting by the abandoned washroom as usual. It was supposed to be Minho’s turn to train him today, but he didn’t know if they were still going to train after what had happened at lunch today. Still… he wanted to see Minho anyways… especially after what happened. He wanted to know if Minho was alright. He knew about Minho’s popularity. He hoped the whole Teresa scene didn’t cause too much trouble for him.

Soon enough, Minho did turn up around the corner not too long after Thomas arrived himself. Thomas smiled at him, but his smile soon faded.

Minho looked angry. His hands were clenched into fists, as he power-walked his way towards Thomas. _Shit he’s angry at me and Teresa isn’t he?_

“Hey man,” Thomas began, as Minho steadily approached him. The closer he got, the more fury Thomas could sense emanating from him. _Guess it’s time to apologize_. “Look, I’m sorry about what happened today. I know you’re mad and--”

Thomas didn’t finish. Couldn’t finish, to be exact. Minho placed his hands on Thomas’s shoulders and shoved him onto the wall, before sloppily smashing their lips together. Needless to say, it took Thomas by complete surprise. It was such a daring move. In public too? Despite how sudden it was, Thomas made no effort to push him off. In fact, Thomas closed his eyes and gripped the back of Minho’s shirt, letting Minho’s tongue run rampant in his mouth. He didn’t realize how much he missed this.

“You… stupid… shuck…” Minho said between their sloppy excuse for kisses. Eventually, after the initial adrenaline from the suddenness died down, their kisses became more deliberate and passionate. He felt Minho’s hips grind against his own, pushing him further into the wall.

And just as sudden as the initial kiss, Minho broke off.

“Shuck,” he muttered in frustration before he walked off a few steps away from Thomas, his back facing towards him.

“Wh-What?” Thomas panted, his heart beating furiously in his chest. Minho was also panting, his hands on his hips. Then, Minho walked back to the brunet and placed his hand on the wall next to Thomas’s head.

“I shuckin' missed you,” the athlete said suddenly. Thomas gulped at the sudden statement. He could feel his cheeks reddening.

“I-I… I didn’t go anywhere?” Thomas stammered stupidly. 

Minho’s eyebrows scrunched together and he looked away for a brief second before looking back and staring into Thomas’s eyes.

“You…” Minho began, his voice wavering slightly. “Do you even like me Thomas?”

Thomas’s mouth was agape, in complete surprise from the suddenness of the question. Despite knowing exactly what to say, Thomas stared at the other in silence for a brief moment. The words were on the tip of his tongue, but it didn't seem to want to leave.

“Ye-Yea I…-- Yes,” Thomas stammered dumbly. He was ashamed at how flustered he was right now. Minho’s expression didn’t change, as if he wasn’t entirely convinced.

“Don’t lie to me,” Minho whispered, a surprising amount of hurt present in his voice. Thomas was in complete shock.

“I’m not lying,” Thomas said back, his eyes boring into Minho’s. Their eyes were locked together. Thomas could feel Minho’s warm breath brush up against his face. In the next second they were kissing again. Minho’s hands cupped Thomas’s face, as Thomas gripped Minho’s ridiculously huge forearms. Minho’s entire body was pushing up against Thomas’s so much that Thomas actually felt like he was sinking into the wall behind him. They panted and gasped into each other’s mouths for a good minute or two before Minho finally broke off again.

“We can’t… not here,” the athlete panted.

Thomas smirked at him. “Ya think?”

Minho laughed, and instantly Thomas felt a burst of warmth flutter in his stomach. The taller male pressed their foreheads together; all the anger Minho had had dissipated entirely. They stayed like that for god knew how long, simply enjoying each other’s presence.

“...Thomas,” he said, with a sudden seriousness in his voice.

“Yeah…?”

“...You know I can’t let you win next week.”

Thomas didn’t say anything at first.

“...I have no intention of losing either.”

Slowly, Minho lifted his head off of Thomas’s and stared at him. They stared at each other again, both of them clearly trying to think of something to say, but it was obvious there wasn’t anything more to say.

The more Thomas looked at Minho, the more torn he felt. He knew about Minho’s status as a Gold Bringer meant all eyes were on him. There was no way Minho could afford to lose. The school’s top Runner losing to a Greenie? Thomas didn’t have to imagine what would happen to Minho after that. But at the same time, Thomas had no intention of losing. He wanted to see the look of awe in everyone’s faces, those people who mocked him just because he was a “Greenie.” Admittedly, it was a rather selfish reason. And winning meant Minho had to lose… 

“I guess that’s that,” Minho said emotionlessly. Thomas gulped. He had no idea what to do. “Can I ask you something?”

Thomas nodded, happy that they were changing the topic of the conversation.

“You and that shank girl--”

“We’re not together,” Thomas said quickly, knowing full well where the convo was going. Everyone seemed to think they were together. It was almost annoying. Slowly, a smile formed on Minho’s face.

“Then… what are we?”

Thomas walked towards him, his eyes still glued to his. Gingerly, he took Minho’s hand and curled their fingers together. Considering how they just fucking made out in school (which was a pretty dumbass decision, honestly), holding hands didn’t seem like that much of a risky move anymore. He smiled at the taller boy.

“Does this mean…?” Minho asked, unsure what to take this as. _Cute_.

“I guess it does.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it :D  
> Yea... I hope this chapter didn't seem too rushed. There was a lot of plot thingys I had to add in, and I hope I wrote enough to properly develop everything.
> 
> Speaking of development I hope yalls like how I'm writing Teresa and the other characters. Hopefully they're likeable and arent too OOC haha.
> 
> Super big thanks to itslivinginadream for beta-ing this chapter! She's super awesome and man, I feel so much better when she betas my stuff. Just... *applause*
> 
> As usual the next chapter will be out in 2-3 weeks. Most likely it will be out after December 13th, because that's when my exams are finished and I can fully devote my time on this fic :D  
> I HOPE YOU GUYS LIKE IT SO FAR!  
> And thank you thank you thank you for reading and commenting :'D  
> I know I dont reply to everyone but thats only because I feel like Id be flooding the comments with just me being a dork and wheezing "omg thank you so much" to everyones comments. But it really REALLY means so much to me when you guys do comment. I like... momentarily shut down in happiness lol.
> 
> Anyways that's enough rambling. See you guys soon!


	9. Before Tumbleweed - Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow it's been a while so sorry guys! D:  
> I know I said I'd have an update after my exams were over but then... wow, I wasn't very free to write at all. Family and holiday madness galore haha! And on the days when I did have time to write, I was too tired and had too little inspiration mm...
> 
> But I pulled through and here's an update!
> 
> You'll notice that this update is shorter than my usual ones, and that's cuz I decided to split up this chapter into 3 parts since it's so... LONG. And since this part is finished I figured I should just upload it and let you guys read it since I know some of ya are so anxious ;)
> 
> Well enough talking hope you enjoy!

Minho stood numbly amongst his fellow Gladers (seven of them to be precise), while attempting, in vain, to listen to the words of their ‘coach’. Newt was standing next to him, with his hands crossed over his chest. Even though Newt was staring at their adult supervisor, Minho couldn’t shake the feeling that the blond was watching him out of the corner of his eye. The athlete mentally sighed. He’d much rather be with Thomas right now... 

Their coach was a thin, boring man with a rat-like face who went by Mr. Janson. He had his usual disinterested look etched onto his face as he gave his usual spiel to them before they began their training session.

“And lastly,” Janson said in a voice as boring as his outfit, “do try to keep yourselves from doing anything that could…” he paused, as if he was trying to find the right words in that ‘expansive’ cranium of his. “...injure yourselves,” he said at last.

“Yes Mr. Janson,” everyone said in unison, minus Minho. It was obvious everyone just wanted the man gone as quickly as possible. Mr. Janson yawned in return, before muttering a “ta-ta” and making his way out of the room, leaving the Gladers on their own. Almost instantly, Minho felt everyone’s shoulders drop and relax. Minho himself breathed out a sigh of relief.

“‘Bout time he left,” Newt said with a smile, “Mr. Janson sure knows how to run ‘is mouth.”

“Remind me again why we have such a klunk coach,” Frypan muttered, scratching his head. “I woulda thought the school’d make more of an effort to get us someone who actually knows fitness-y stuff after we won for the first time… like ever.” Minho shared his frustration. For as long as he could remember, they never actually had someone professional to train them. Janson was an uptight intellectual who probably thought of the Gladers as brutes. That, and Janson didn’t seem to care about The Maze Runner at all. 

“It’s ‘cause we’re known as a rigorous academic school,” Newt replied. “Not much funding goes towards us.” He crossed his arms and frowned. “Though I woulda thought winning last year woulda changed that.”

“Well it’s a good thing we got Minho here to carry us to victory then,” Winston said the enthusiasm you’d expect from a dead cat. Alby slung his arm around Minho, laughing as he did, causing the athlete to bend to the side slightly because of the height difference.

“This dork? Nah, we’re lucky to have Brenda with us. It’s her genius plan that got Minny the gold.”

“Guys,” Brenda’s voice cut through the room, slicing through Alby’s laughter. “I’d hate to be such a downer but shouldn’t we be talking about _him_?” Brenda pointed her thumb towards Gally, who had been uncharacteristically silent in the corner of the room. All eyes shifted towards the sandy blond haired male who had one of his hands covering his elbow.

Gally’s eyes shifted uneasily, before his nostrils flared and he puffed out a mighty: “What?”

“You know what I’m talking about,” Brenda accused, “you and that little show you put on during lunch was _real_ mature.” 

“Well she shuckin’ started it!” Gally retaliated.

“It doesn’t matter! We already got ‘nough problems with the Scorchers breathing down our necks all the time.” Brenda snarled back, her voice rising in volume as she continued. Thanks to you we gotta dedicate some of our precious training time dealing with your mess!”

“Would you two slim it?!” Minho very nearly shouted. He didn’t leave Thomas to come all the way here to watch his teammates argue about klunk that _shouldn’t_ even matter. They could deal with Gally’s behavior later. What mattered was this challenge Teresa issued towards them. Luckily it didn’t seem like Minho would have to explain this to them, as Newt was already on the case.

“Yea,” Minho heard Newt mutter next to him. “What’s done is done. Best we figure out what to do with those Greenies.” Gally crossed his arms over his chest and muttered something incoherent, as he stared into the floor.

Brenda placed her hands on her waist with a scowl. “...Yea, that Stick.”

“What d’you think we should do?” Newt asked the short-haired girl. Brenda crossed her arms and hummed for a while before answering.

“There’s nothing much we can do to prepare. We don’t have any idea what kind of challenge that Stick and her Greenies have in store for us.”

Minho clenched his fists together. It was strange. They were talking about Thomas as if he was the enemy. Well, technically he was, but… just moments ago, before this meeting, he was with the Shuck-Face, with his arms wrapped around the other’s body. They were a thing now. A _real_ thing this time. It made the athlete uncomfortable, knowing that he would most likely have to face Thomas in the field. Like, shuck, what was he going to say after this whole thing was over? ‘Sorry for whooping your ass in front of everyone, but we’re still together right?’ He looked at Newt who was by his side and wondered what the blond felt about the whole thing.

“So that’s the plan? Just wait it out till then? Nothin’ we can do to prep?” Newt asked in a polite, but serious, voice.

Brenda hummed again, before she placed hand on her chin. She closed her eyes and didn’t say anything for a while. When she finally opened them, there was a familiar twinkle in them that only happened when she gave birth to an idea.

“There’s nothing we can do for sure but I bet…” Brenda said humming again, “...I bet whatever ‘challenge’ that Stick has in store for us, will have something to do with close quarters combat, or something similar to it such as tackling in football.”

“What makes you say that?” Minho asked, knowing very well that he couldn’t be the only person who had this question in mind.

“As much as I hate to admit it, that Stick knows how to kick butt.” Brenda sighed, before running her hand through her short, neck-length hair. “I don’t know if she took Karate or Judo lessons or whatever as a kid, but there’s no doubt about it. She can fight. And she knows it too. She probably wouldn’t have provoked Gally if she didn’t think she’d be able to take him down.”

Minho could see Gally twitch uncomfortably from the corner of his eyes.

“I’d say,” Brenda continued, “whatever this challenge of hers is… it’ll probably be something she’s good at… which is knocking people over.” She rubbed her chin for a second before continuing. “And since we beat them at numbers… they probably wouldn’t make us play a large scale game like dodge ball or something. Most likely, we’ll be playing a smaller game.”

“Makes sense…” Newt said, rubbing his mouth, clearly in thought.

Brenda nodded. “I’d say, they’d probably play a game that’s going to be three on three. Maybe something like football. You know… something that involves knocking over people.”

“How sure are you?” Minho asked.

“Not very,” Brenda admitted, with a shrug from her shoulders. “I don’t know her. I don’t know what else that Stick’s got up her sleeve. But, we don’t have much else to go on do we?”

Minho nodded. They were lucky to have Brenda on their side. She was too clever for her own good.

“Alright,” Newt said, with his hand on his chin. “I guess the best way to prepare for this challenge is to learn how to knock people down. Brenda, do ya think you can find anything that can help us learn?”

Brenda shrugged. “Sure… I’ll ask my brother for help and google some stuff I guess.”

Newt turned to Minho and gave him a smile. “While she’s doing that, can ya go through the usual training routine? We still have The Maze Runner to worry about after all.”

“Whip those losers into shape?” Minho smirked. “Already on it.”

  
  


Thomas rolled onto his back, as he lay restlessly on his bed. It was midnight. His phone was flipped open as he continuously tapped the call button, while never really pressing it. After Thomas made his feelings clear for Minho, they ended up kissing and embracing each other until it was time for Minho to go off to his Glader training session. The next thing he knew, he was calling Teresa to tell her the news. He remembered how his hand was trembling in excitement and how his voice kept cracking at every few words he managed to sputter out to his friend from the adrenaline of being with Minho. At first Teresa was equally as excited as he was, but then, she realized how complicated things would be. The challenge, and the fact that they had to be constantly watching their backs… It was going to be tough. Thomas didn’t care at the time though. He was too excited and giddy to be thinking about such depressing things. Even his mom seemed to sense something was up, and asked him if anything spectacular happened in school today, when she finally came around to pick him up.

He spent the rest of the day lounging around the house wondering what his other half was doing. They were together now, but what did that even mean? Things didn’t feel too… different. What do ‘boyfriends’ even do? _Boyfriend… He’s my boyfriend now._ Thomas rolled onto his stomach and smothered his head into his pillow, feeling his face flush from the thought. He closed his flip phone and threw it to the side of his bed. Minho was probably sleeping now anyways. Well whatever, Thomas would see him tomorrow regardless.

The next morning, Thomas wondered if he should send a ‘good morning’ message to the athlete. He stared at his phone and contemplated doing it, while he munched on his toast. The more he thought about it, the more he hesitated. He didn’t want to seem clingy or annoying or anything like that… Man was he _pathetic_ or what? _He’s your boyfriend and you’re scared of talking to him? Really, dude?_

Eventually, Thomas ended up sending him a good morning text, ten minutes before homeroom started. It was kind of redundant since he’d be seeing Minho fairly soon. Thomas heard several people giggle behind him. It was the kind of giggling that was deliberately loud, and obnoxious; Thomas instantly knew that they were making fun of him. Chuck came in first, his eyes trailing the floor, trying to ignore the murmurs of their peers.

“Hey Chuck,” Thomas greeted with a smile. Chuck instantly perked up and smiled back. It was a weak smile, but at least he tried.

“Hey Thomas,” he said, before taking his seat a few seats behind his. Once again, Thomas heard laughter behind him. At this point, whatever Wicked did had little to no affect on him. However, Thomas was worried about Chuck, and how he was dealing with everything.

Then Teresa bounded in, chewing gum, before taking her seat next to Thomas. The moment she entered the classroom, the murmurs stopped. The room became uncomfortably silent, but it was still obvious that Wicked’s eyes were on them. They were scared of her. Kicking Gally’s ass twice must’ve left a sweet impression. Not that Teresa seemed to give a fuck.

Finally Minho came into the room a few minutes before homeroom was supposed to begin, with Newt and Alby by his side. Immediately, the two of them exchanged brief glances at each other, before Minho broke off and went quietly to his seat. Little bits of chatter began to sprout as Minho passed Teresa, which eventually ceased when their homeroom teacher strutted her way into the classroom.

Thomas zoned out for the duration of the homeroom period, barely paying attention to any announcements the teacher made. He felt his phone vibrate in his pockets suddenly, and he instantly knew it was Minho.

He didn’t check until he was out of the classroom and making his way to his locker to get stuff for his first class. He felt a few mocking glances glaze over him, obviously judging him for his flip phone, but whatever.

‘Morning to you too shuckface <3

Wanna meet after school?’

Thomas smiled, feeling his chest warm up.

‘yea ofc’

Almost immediately, Minho replied.

‘:) See you soon babe’

 _Babe?_ Thomas nearly swallowed his tongue.

When he reached his locker, Thomas exhaled a breath he didn’t know he was holding in. Smiling stupidly, he swung his locker door open, only to jump back in surprise when a plethora of paper gushed out of his locker and scattered across the floor. A few nearby students rushed away from the sight, giggling and whispering to themselves all the while.

Thomas blinked at the pieces of paper that were now sprawled on the floor. That was definitely not in his locker when he last checked. He crouched down and picked up a piece. He already sort of knew what he was going to find on the paper.

‘Go kill yourself’

Silently, he picked up another piece of paper that more or less said the same thing. Another one told him how stupid he was for picking a fight with the Gladers. Another one told him to ‘suck dick’ and hah jokes on you, Thomas already did.

Sighing, Thomas picked up the scattered pieces of paper, compiling everything into a single pile. He didn’t really care what the messages said; he was just annoyed that he had to clean up the mess Wicked made. _I mean really? How much time do these losers have, fuck these guys._ _This is so unnecessary, like what the fuck, what a waste of paper._ Aggravated, Thomas found the nearest recycling bin and stuffed the pieces in it. It took him two round trips to throw everything away. What a waste of fucking time.

He found out later at lunch that Teresa and Chuck got the same treatment he did.

“Isn’t it funny?” Teresa said with an amused smile. She dug something out of her pocket and took out a folded piece of paper that said: ‘Shave that skunk hair’. She started to laugh. “Jealousy at its finest.”

Thomas laughed alongside her. “Guess what one of mine said.”

“What?”

“‘Suck a dick.’”

Thomas and Teresa started to laugh hysterically. Chuck smiled at the two of them (Thomas wasn’t sure if Chuck was still clueless about his gayness or if he figured it out already), but made no comment.

“...You okay Chuck?” Thomas asked.

“...” Chuck’s mouth twitched slightly, as if he wanted to say something, but was either too scared or too unsure to say it. “It’s just… ung…” Chuck’s smile turned into a frown. “How can you guys be so happy?”

“Who said we’re happy?” Teresa asked. Chuck shrugged, visibly more unsure of himself than ever.

“I dunno I--” Chuck’s back slumped, and he stared into the table. “… Nevermind.”

“Hey,” Thomas said soothingly, “Don’t let them get to you. It’s what they want.”

“I guess…” Chuck muttered. Teresa placed her hand on Chuck’s shoulder, in an attempt to comfort him. Chuck gave her a weary smile. “It’s just that… it kinda hurts.”

“I know,” Teresa said slowly. “Believe me. I know.”

There was a brief moment of silence before she continued. “Don’t worry Chuck. We’ll show them.”

Chuck shrugged. “I guess so…”

After the bell rang, the three of them made their way to their respective classes. Chuck broke off from them first, muttering a barely audible ‘goodbye’, and soon Thomas found himself walking through the school with Teresa by his side. It was almost nostalgic, walking through the school together with his childhood friend.

They got to their classroom a few minutes earlier than usual. As expected, there was a thick air of tense silence that hung around the room the moment they walked in. If Teresa wasn’t here, they’d be laughing at him. They made their way to the back, out of sight from everybody but the teacher, who seemed to be re-reading his lecture notes one last time before class began.

“Hey Tom,” Teresa said in a quiet voice, as they sat down.

“Hm?”

“Do you wanna play Tumbleweed tomorrow?” She asked abruptly. “With Chuck.”

 _Ahh… Tumbleweed. I know where this is going._ “Sure.” Thomas looked over at Teresa who was busy getting notebooks out of her backpack. “Let me guess… We’re playing Tumbleweed next week. With the Gladers I mean.”

Teresa plopped her notebook on the table along with her pencil case, before turning her head to face Thomas. She smiled. “Was it really that obvious?”

Thomas shrugged. “Maybe.”

She snickered. “Well… since it’s the only game you’re _actually_ good at, I figured it’d be the best choice.”

“Thanks Tes.”

The class went by quicker than Thomas expected, and the next thing he knew, he was waiting by the usual spot for Minho to come. It was during these times, when he was alone waiting for Minho to come, did he wonder about this meeting place of theirs. To be honest, Thomas wasn’t very keen on the idea of meeting up next to a public bathroom. A supposedly ‘ _haunted_ ’ bathroom at that. Was this bathroom really the most private place they could meet on campus? Since he could only be with Minho like once a day… he wished he could meet him in more desirable places. He sighed. And the fact that he could only see Minho like… once a day for less than an hour was also a big bummer.

Thomas was so lost in thought he barely registered the familiar outline of a certain athlete making his way towards him. When he realized Minho finally came, he gave the athlete a simple wave and a smile.

Minho nodded his head once, the way guys do when they greet each other, before walking up and placing a quick kiss on Thomas’s forehead.

“Miss me?” Minho snickered, in that usual cocky voice of his.

“Just a bit,” Thomas said, wrapping his arms around Minho’s torso and burying his head into the athlete’s chest. He closed his eyes. Minho was nice and warm… and his pecs were so firm and built. Thomas felt strong arms hold his back, pulling him closer into Minho’s body. The athlete rested his head on top of Thomas’s head and sighed.

“Wish we could meet more,” Minho said.

Thomas hummed a “yea”, his voice muffled from the athlete’s chest. He pushed himself gently off of Minho, who still had his hands on Thomas’s back, so he could have a good look at his face. “And maybe… somewhere better than here.”

“What you scared of ghosts?” Minho asked with a cute little smirk. _Those fucking dimples are going to be the death of me._

“Wh--? No,” Thomas glanced at the door to the bathroom, which was looking creepier by the second. “What’s wrong with wanting to meet in someplace that’s uh… not a bathroom?” _A bathroom that’s haunted no less…_

Minho shrugged. “Nothin’ I can do ‘bout that. Wicked--”

“Yea, I know,” Thomas said with a sigh. “But uhm… do you think we could meet up sometime later? When you’re not busy, I mean.”

“Like a date?” Minho asked bluntly.

“If that’s what you want to call it,” Thomas said with a smile. Minho smiled back at him, his hands moving towards Thomas’s lower back.

“What’dya got in mind?” Minho’s hands held onto Thomas’s hips and pulled it against his own. Thomas blushed, his hands gripping the front of Minho’s shirt. The athlete smiled at him, clearly amused with Thomas’s reaction.

“M-Maybe a movie… or something…” Thomas gulped, feeling slightly ashamed of how he got so hot and bothered so easily. Minho’s smile began to fade. The athlete let go of Thomas’s hips, and scratched the back of his head.

“I don’t think I can,” Minho said in a dry voice. “Sorry.”

Thomas was about to ask why, but then he remembered. _Fuck I forgot. He can’t be seen with me in public._ Thomas’s heart sank. And to think that there are people in this world who actually romanticise the idea of a secret relationship. There was nothing desirable about this…

“How about your place? We could uh… hang there, right?” Thomas asked.

“Yeah. I guess…” Minho said. Despite agreeing with the idea, the athlete was clearly uneasy with it. Thomas wondered why. Was it because of his parents? Was it because he showed up out of the blue last time? Thomas bit his lip.

“...If it’s too much trouble then--”

“Nah it’s not that,” Minho said, his hands finding it’s way back to Thomas’s waist. Once again, Thomas found their crotches touching and rubbing against each other. He felt himself getting flustered again. Minho, on the other hand, didn’t look bothered at all. “I was thinkin’... maybe we can do it at your place this time.”

“D-Do it? At my place?” Thomas said a little too quickly, the words toppling over each other. Thomas only realized the innuendo behind his words, after he said it. Minho laughed.

“I meant movie you dumb shank,” he said before pressing their foreheads together. He stared into Thomas’s eyes. “...Unless you want to.”

 _Too hot._ Minho’s seductive gaze alone was already enough to get Thomas flustered. But, now the athlete’s hips were grinding against his own, and his breath was caressing his neck. It was too much. Thomas closed the gap between their mouths and felt Minho’s lips stretch into a smile.

“That… a yes?” Minho said in between kisses. Thomas didn’t bother answering right away, being too invested in his boyfriend’s lips. He closed his eyes and kissed as if it was their first kiss in years, despite just making out with him the day before.

“...Yeah, uh, s-sure,” Thomas stammered awkwardly, when he finally broke off. _What were we talking about again?_ Minho laughed, showing his perfect white teeth, before placing a peck on Thomas’s forehead.

“Does that mean…?” Minho’s face was beginning to turn pink. Thomas gulped.

“Uh, I uh--… I’m okay with it. Movie. At my place. Uhm…” The shorter boy bit his lip. He wasn’t making much sense was he? “...Yea that sounds cool.” He cleared his throat, awkwardly. “I’ll have to ask my mom first of course.”

“Oh yea, right,” Minho nodded in response, letting go of Thomas’s waist and scratching the back of his head. “I’ll ask my, uh, parents too.”

Thomas nodded. Now the two of them just stood awkwardly in front of each other. Thomas raked his brain for something to say. _How can asking my own boyfriend out be so awkward?_ When Thomas finally thought of something to say, he was met by a familiar voice. And it wasn’t Minho’s.

“Thomas?”

Both the athlete and his partner swiveled their heads to the general direction of the voice. Thomas could’ve sworn he felt his heart stop beating for the briefest of seconds. All he saw was a flash of blond hair, and he knew instantly who it was.

“Newt,” Thomas said, his voice cracking from the shock. He cleared his throat quickly before continuing. “What are you doing here?”

Newt’s face looked somewhat insecure like he knew he walked in on something he probably shouldn’t have, and at the same time, he looked confused. His eyes went back and forth from Minho to Thomas several times, before he answered Thomas’s question.

“What’re you talkin’ ‘bout? It _is_ my turn today ain’t it?”

It took Thomas a few moments before he finally understood what the blond haired boy meant. _Shit, I completely forgot._ Thomas met Minho and Newt on a rotating schedule for his ‘training’ sessions. He met with Minho yesterday so that meant it was Newt’s turn to train him today. With the craziness of Teresa’s challenge, and becoming somewhat official with Minho, he completely forgot about Newt.

“I uh… I didn’t think you’d uh come?” Thomas said nervously. It was true though. After Teresa challenged the Gladers, he assumed that his peaceful training sessions with Minho and Newt would pretty much end since… well… he was the ‘enemy’ now. Not that he really trained with Minho at all the past few times.

Newt’s eyes sharpened, as his gaze glazed over the two adolescent boys in front of him. It was a scary look. It was as if he was reading into their body language, their eyes, their facial expressions, for information. It was like he knew what happened between them just now. It made Thomas incredibly uncomfortable.

“Well I’m here,” Newt replied simply. His eyes focused in on Thomas now, completely ignoring Minho’s presence. “Not to train you though.”

The blond boy walked up to Thomas, with an eerily serious expression. “I wanted to ask you something,” Newt said. Thomas swallowed a clump of spit. “I wanted to ask you in private but…” Newt glanced at Minho, then back to Thomas.

“Private?” Minho asked, folding his arms together. “Why?”

“Nothin’ important Minny.”

“Then why does it need to be ‘private’?”

Thomas could feel the rising tension building between his two friends. “Well, what is it?” Thomas asked in his attempt to stop a potential argument from arising.

Newt stroked his chin with his fingers, clearly debating whether or not he should say whatever it is he wanted to say in Minho’s presence.

“Alright,” Newt finally said. “Don’t see why Minho shouldn’t hear this.” Thomas saw Minho raise his eyebrow at the mention of his name.

“Thomas,” Newt said, in a sincere voice, “I want you to quit.”

“Quit?”

“Quit this challenge. Leave it. Abandon it. Whatever word you want.” Thomas blinked stupidly at his blond friend.

“Excuse me?"

“It’ll be better for you. For the both of us,” Newt said, surprisingly gentle in his tone. “Trust me, jus’ call the quits. Aight?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next update will be around in a few days or so.
> 
> Weeeelll what do you guys think? :D I know Movie-Brenda is supposed to have short hair, but the thing is... I kinda already wrote that Brenda had hair long enough to be in a pony tail. So uh. Awkward. I guess she has shorter hair than Teresa in my story...  
> Also, Book-Brenda is described by Jorge as being a "genius." But uh, I didnt exactly see too much of Brenda's "genius" in the book... so Im going to make her a genius in my story HAHA. Hope you like her.
> 
> As usual thank you for itslivinginadream for beta-ing AND all of you awesome people for reading!! :D
> 
> I have so much in store for this fic and I really hope you stick around for the ride hehe!
> 
> PS: If you sent me a message on tumblr but I never replied, do send it to me again. I have had people tell me that they never received my reply and that sorta worries me. I DONT BITE I PROMISE. But yea, I just wanted to say Im not purposefully ignoring you :)
> 
> And uh, please do leave any thoughts/ questions/ concerns in the comments because i really do love reading them haha. 
> 
> Ta ta for now! See you guys in a few days :D


	10. Before Tumbleweed - Part 2

Minho was just as surprised as Thomas was to hear Newt’s demand. He raised his eyebrow and glanced towards his Beanstalk who was looking increasingly annoyed as the seconds rolled by. 

“No,” Thomas stated, as he began to cross his arms. “Sorry Newt, but that’s not happening.”

Newt didn’t react to the other’s reply, nor did his expression change. He looked at Minho for a while - seemingly for support - before glancing back at Thomas. Minho watched his two friends lock eyes in a tense, awkward stalemate. Minho himself was feeling tense for completely different reasons. How could he overlook something so _stupid_? He didn’t think Newt would come today to train Thomas, especially when he just became their ‘enemy’, for a lack of a better term. _That was a shuckin’ dumb mistake_. If Newt came by just a few minutes earlier than he did… Minho shivered at the thought. Then panic and paranoia began to set in. What if Newt did see something…?

“Listen Thomas,” Newt said, his eyes softening. “I’ve been with you for ‘bout a month now. I’ve seen what you’re capable of. And…” Newt trailed off, taking a deep sigh as he did. “...Thomas, you’re jus’ gonna embarrass yourself.”

Thomas was visibly taken aback, clearly offended by Newt’s comment.

“Wha--?”

“I’m sorry,” Newt said softly, with genuine sincerity present in his voice. “But Thomas, we’re Runners. We’re made to be ready and to adapt to anything the Maze throws at us. Whatever your challenge is… we can take it. You understand that, don’t you? And if we win, things are gonna be worse for you than they are now. It’s jus’ not worth it.”

“So… what you’re saying is…” Thomas said slowly, pronouncing every syllable as surely as possible. Minho could tell his Beanstalk was doing his absolute best to be calm and not lash out at his blond friend. He could practically feel his partner’s infuriation emanating from his body. “...You think I don’t have a chance.”

“Thomas…”

“Well guess what, _Newt_ ,” Thomas spat. “I don’t give a fuck what you think. I’m not quitting. So don’t waste your time.” Thomas crossed his arms and looked to the side, avoiding Newt’s gaze.

Newt’s expression hardened slightly, but still had a soft quality to it.

“...Fine.” Newt said plainly. The blond looked at Minho once more, as if silently asking the athlete for help. When it was clear that Minho wasn’t going to say anything, Newt looked back at Thomas one last time. “I’ll see you later then.”

Newt began to walk away a few steps, and then suddenly turned around to face Minho.

“You comin’?” Newt asked the athlete.

“...I’ll catch up.” Minho answered.

Newt raised an eyebrow, but otherwise said nothing. He took one last glance at the two of them before he walked off.

“I can’t believe he said that…” Thomas muttered silently, his eyes trailing the floor. “He actually… …”

“You know he’s only lookin’ out for you,” Minho said. His arms remaining folded across his chest, mainly to force himself to not touch Thomas just in case any other random people popped in on them.

Thomas didn’t say anything at first. He scrunched up his nose before he sniffed once. “...I never asked for his opinion.”

“It jus’ means he considers you to be a friend,” Minho stated. Thomas didn’t react much to Minho’s statement. The athlete bit the insides of his lips. He wanted to say something to comfort his Beanstalk, but the truth was that he actually agreed with Newt. What was the point? The Gladers were not going to let the Greenies win. Not a chance.

“You think I’m going to lose too don’t you?”

Minho didn’t outwardly react to Thomas’s words. On the inside, however, he was practically screaming. _Shuck. What the shuck do I say?_ Minho looked at his partner. The Beanstalk looked pretty dejected… and so darn vulnerable… What Newt said really seemed to get to him.

“I told you yesterday that I wasn’t goin’ to let you win.” Minho said, his voice hardening. It hurt him to say it. God, why was everything so complicated. He didn’t want Thomas to lose, but there was no way he could lose either. “Maybe Newt’s right. Maybe it’s best if you lay off this time.”

Thomas frowned at him. _Sorry Greenie. You know I can’t let you win. You know that..._ Thomas closed his eyes, as if he was really considering their suggestion this time. Minho clenched his fists. He felt so helpless. What could he do? He couldn’t help Thomas personally. To the public eye, Minho didn’t even know him.

“...No,” Thomas finally replied, opening his eyes. Minho swallowed. Thomas didn’t look dejected anymore. In fact, he looked surer and more determined than ever. Minho didn’t know whether he found Thomas’s persistence and determination to be incredibly sexy or absolutely hopeless. Probably both. “I’m not giving up.”

“Why?”

“Because I hate the way they look at me.”

Minho gritted his teeth. “So, that’s the plan? Show off your shuck-faced talents ‘n hope Wicked lets up?” When Thomas made no effort to reply, Minho continued. “It’s not gonna happen. Even if by some shucked up chance you do win, you think Wicked’s gonna stop tormentin’ you?”

“Stop,” Thomas said firmly. “Don’t waste your breath.”

Before Minho could say anything, Thomas took one of the athlete’s hands and held it with his own. Thomas made one soothing sigh that instantly calmed Minho down.

“I don’t get it…” Minho said quietly to his partner. They looked at each other. The Greenie’s eyes were softer and kinder now, but still had that determined and fierce edge to them that Minho adored. Minho squeezed Thomas’s hands. “...I don’t want to hurt you. Why can’t you jus’ … quit?”

Slowly, and a little awkwardly, Thomas took baby steps up to Minho and wrapped his arms around the athlete, pressing their chests together. Minho was surprised at how fast the Greenie’s heart was beating.

“Minho…” Thomas began, his head resting on Minho’s shoulder. “If you had to leap off a cliff, would you look down first?”

“Why the shuck would you want to leap off a cliff?”

“I dunno. Maybe there’s treasure on the other side. Maybe a home to live in…” Thomas playfully pinched Minho’s back, causing the athlete to flinch in surprise. “...Maybe there’s a shucker like you I can cuddle with.”

Minho made a single laugh and smiled. “Sounds worth it,” he remarked before nuzzling his chin on the Greenie’s shoulder. One would think after being caught by someone (Newt) Minho would be extra careful with showing affection, even if they were supposedly alone at the moment. But, the truth was… he couldn’t care less. He placed one soft chaste kiss on Thomas’s forehead. “But this challenge ain’t worth it.”

“...It might not be.” Thomas’s arms gripped the athlete’s body tighter. “But I won’t know unless I leap.”

“Why not just stay on your cliff?”

“Because there’s nothing for me on it. If I don’t leap, I’ll never know.”

Minho gripped the back of Thomas’s shirt. “...You’re so difficult. You know that?” Minho heard his partner laugh softly into his chest.

“Says you,” Thomas retorted. _He’s so cute…_ Minho nuzzled into Thomas’s neck, eliciting a soft moan from the other. _Dammit… I’m getting hard_. The athlete could feel something hard nuzzle against his thigh as well.

They made out again. Minho pushed Thomas against the wall, replaying the make out sessions they had just the other day. The athlete just couldn’t help it. The Greenie tasted too good. He was irresistible. Eventually Thomas broke off, something Minho was secretly thankful for, because if Thomas didn’t, Minho would’ve spent the next hour making out with him.

“I need to go…” Minho muttered. “Almost time to meet with the Gladers.”

“Alright,” Thomas said, visibly disappointed that their time together was coming to an end.

Minho nodded at him, and proceeded to walk away, only to be stopped by Thomas’s hand grabbing onto his.

“Wait,” Thomas said, squeezing Minho’s hand.

“Mm?” Minho hummed, looking back at the flustered, and blushing teenager that was his dork of a boyfriend.

“...I  uh…” Thomas swallowed, before continuing. “I know that… you can’t let me win.”

The athlete raised an eyebrow. “Yea, and?”

Thomas’s mouth twitched. “S-So no matter what happens… whether I win or lose, I uh. I still want us to… work.”

“You sayin’ we won’t?”

Thomas shook his head. “That’s not what I mean. I just… don’t want to lose you. Over something like this.”

Instantly, Minho wrapped his arms around his Beanstalk and pulled him into another tight hug. It was so cute. It was so cute for him to worry about something like that. Knowing that Thomas cared about him was enough to set his heart ablaze.  The athlete nuzzled into the Greenie’s shoulder once more.

“I’m not goin’ anywhere,” he whispered, nearly stumbling over his words. “... _Jaghi._ ”

“...Hah? What does that mean?” Thomas muttered.

“Means you’re mine,” Minho snickered, before playfully licking Thomas’s neck. Minho felt his partner squirm from the sudden touch. _So cute._ Minho didn’t let go of Thomas’s body for a good while, even when Thomas tried to squirm his way free from the athlete’s arms.

“Uhm… don’t you have a meeting to go to?”

“Not my fault your shuck-face is too damn distractin’.”

  
  


Thomas went home that day feeling slightly dazed. He was in his kitchen, chopping onions absentmindedly as his mother lay on their couch, probably napping. That’s all his mother ever did at home really. Eat and sleep. Work must be hard…

Him and Minho were in such a strange stage right now… he wondered if other couples had the same problems they had. He wondered what was going to happen a week from now, after they play Tumbleweed with the Gladers. What if Minho and Newt were right? Would Wicked really leave them alone even if they proved themselves? He hated how he had to even ‘prove’ his worth in the first place, just to have a decent life in high school. Funny, just a month ago he’d been daydreaming about being a Runner. Now he was fighting just to be a normal high school student.

He took out a frying pan and drizzled a bit of oil on it, before poking his head into the fridge. He frowned. No carrots or peas. Dammit, he should’ve checked first before starting. So much for his plan to make fried rice. At least he had eggs.

About half an hour later his mom woke up and stumbled her way into the kitchen, where Thomas had just about finished eating his incredibly exquisite meal. As his mother made her way silently to the stove, Thomas got off his chair and plopped his plate in the sink. He rinsed his plate while watching his mother from the corner of his eye. She looked half-alive. Her eyes were droopy and her hair was a mess. Despite having just woken up from a nap, she looked like she hasn’t slept in days.

He took a deep breath. “Hi mom.”

His mom swivelled her head towards him, blinking at him in surprise. “...Yes?” Thomas grabbed a sponge and began to soap up his plate, ignoring his mother’s gaze.

“This Saturday,” Thomas began, with his voice at a complete neutral. “A friend of mine’s going to come over and stay overnight. Is that okay?”

Thomas’s mom ignored her son’s bluntness. “...Yea. Okay,” she said nodding her head slightly. Thomas didn’t say anything in reply. He turned on the tap and rinsed off the soap from his plate, before placing it on the drying rack. He still felt his mom’s eyes lingering on him. He knew she wanted to say more, so he turned and looked at his mother and waited. She took the hint and spoke.

“Who's your friend?” She asked slowly. “Is it… Teresa?” Her voice was somewhat uneasy, suggesting that she wasn’t entirely comfortable with the idea of Teresa staying over, despite them being childhood besties. Poor mom still thought he was straight…

“No, it’s a guy.”

“Ohh,” she said, sighing in what Thomas assumed was relief. Then she smiled at him. “That’s good.”

Thomas’s mouth twitched. _‘That’s good’? What did that mean?_ Was she happy that Thomas actually made a friend that wasn’t Teresa or Aris for once? Not knowing what to say to his mom, he just nodded his head and wiped his wet hands on a towel. His mom seemed to realize that she might’ve said something to offend her son.

“What time is your friend coming over?”

Thomas shrugged. _Good question actually._ “Dunno. Evening maybe.”

His mom nodded slowly and awkwardly. She didn’t say anything else. But, even so, Thomas knew she wanted to say more. He knew his mother was trying to form other questions to ask him, just for the heck of it. Not because she was interested or whatever, but because she was always trying to talk to him. Feeling rather uncomfortable with his mom staring him down, Thomas excused himself and scurried back to his room, leaving his mother to eat her dinner alone as usual. His mom didn’t do anything to stop Thomas from walking away from her. Sighing, she sat on the very same chair Thomas sat on not too long ago.

  
  


“ _Ohmonii_ ,” Minho said, addressing his mother’s attention. His family was eating supper together, as usual, with Minho seated in the middle of their long white dinner table, whilst his parents sat on opposite ends of each other. Today their dinner consisted of king prawns served with nut sauce, grilled eels, and various other side dishes such as kimchi wrapped in cabbage leaves and braised mackerel with radishes.

“Yes?” His mother said in reply. Today she was wearing her hair in a bun, and wore a sleek, grey business suit. _She must have just gotten back from work._  She picked up an eel on her plate with her metal chopsticks, before her gaze shifted towards her son. Minho watched the chopsticks as she lifted it to her mouth.

“May I ask you something?”

His mother smiled politely at him. “Of course you can, _ahdeul_.”  Minho swallowed. He felt his mother’s eyes scraping his skin. He did his best to be as relaxed and as casual as possible. _Just pretend you’re asking to go over to Newt’s place. No biggie._

“This weekend, may I stay over at a friend’s house?”

His mother didn’t react at all. Her gaze went back to the food in front of her, stabbing another eel with her chopsticks in the process.

“Why?” She asked. “Do you have a group assignment you need to work on?”

Minho hesitated. Slowly he shook his head. He could’ve lied and said that he did in fact have a group project he had to do. It would’ve been a surefire way to get her approval. But he’d rather not risk it, just in case. _Parents are always talking to each other. Just like Wicked._

“No project. Just a small get together.”

His mother brought another eel to her lips, as she blinked at her son. She chewed, watching him ever so closely. Eventually, when she swallowed, her gaze went back to the plates in front of her.

“... And when do you plan on going?”

“This Saturday,” Minho replied, trying to keep his voice as neutral as possible.

“Saturday?”

His mother’s gaze shifted back to her son, her sharp eyes boring into the athlete. From the corner of his eyes, he could see his father look up from his plate, watching their conversation as he chewed silently. The room was quiet, minus the clatter of dinnerware. His father cleared his throat once, before his mom continued to speak.

“Have you forgotten about your Academy?” She asked. Despite the bluntness, and potential rudeness of the question, the tone of his mother’s voice still managed to make herself seem incredibly polite. It made Minho feel somewhat insecure.

“No, I haven’t _ohmonii_. I mean to go later in the evening, after I finish my Academy,” he said, whilst he stared at the food in front of him.

“And when will you be back?”

Minho swallowed. “Early morning the next day.”

His mother raised her head upwards slightly, and smiled at him. Instantly, he knew that he managed to get her approval and mentally breathed a sigh of relief.

“...I suppose you have been working hard as of late,” his mother stated, as she placed her chopsticks down and picked up a wine glass from the table. She held it in between her index and middle finger, swiveling the opaque yellowish liquid that filled it. Whatever was in her glass was clearly _not_ wine. _Must be mango juice_. “Very well. You may go. Be sure to be back in the morning,” she said as she took a sip from her glass, never breaking her gaze towards her son.

Minho nodded his head in respect and smiled. “ _Kamsahamnida.”_

The next ten minutes went along in relative silence. Occasionally, his father made some remark about work, which his mother replied to, in a somewhat disinterested manner. Minho ignored it all. He was just happy that he got his permission to go out. The best part was that his mother didn’t even ask whom he was hanging out with. Which was somewhat odd, the athlete had to admit. He was ready to lie and say he would be hanging out with Newt if he had to. For some reason, the question never came. He couldn’t help but to feel uneasy. _Relax bro. The hardest part is done. What’chu even worried ‘bout?_ Despite trying to reassure himself, he couldn’t shake away the growing suspicion that something was amiss.

After he finished eating, he excused himself from the table, thanked his family for the meal and went back to his room. He checked his phone, and made a goofy smile when Thomas’s name blinked at the screen. _One missed call hm?_

He tapped Thomas’s name on his screen and placed his phone to his ear. Almost immediately, a familiar voice answered the phone.

“Hey meathead,” Thomas said, with a wink in his voice.

“Whadaya want Beanstalk?” Minho replied feigning annoyance as a joke.

“Aww, having a bad day?” Thomas replied in an overly sympathetic tone. Minho could practically see Thomas making an exaggerated pout in front of him.

“Not as bad as your outdated cell.”

“Hah, you’re so funny,” Thomas remarked sarcastically. “Well it’s a good thing that I came with good news then hm? I wouldn’t want to make your _oh so incredibly_ bad day worse now do I?”

  
  


Mrs. Youn smiled to herself as she brought a wine-glass full of mango juice to her lips. She had finished eating not too long ago and was now in one of her study rooms, the largest one in the house. The room was styled to look incredibly old fashioned and elegant, having large, expansive wooden bookshelves, lined with hardcover books, most of which she hadn’t read. She had two large couches, and a round, wooden coffee table in between them. She placed the glass on the table and stared at the bookshelves in front of her, before her husband walked in.

“I know that look,” her husband said to her. “You’ve had it since dinner. What’s on your mind?”

Mrs. Youn made no immediate reply and continued to stare at the books, seemingly in thought. It wasn’t until she turned her head around to face him did she seem to acknowledge his presence.

“I believe…” she began, “...Our Minho is finally growing up.”

“What makes you say that?”

Mrs. Youn looked at her husband, unimpressed. “You haven’t noticed?” Her husband made no reply, and instead waited for her to continue. She sighed. “Minho has been acting… rather strangely as of late.”

“Strange?”

Mrs. Youn nodded her head slowly. “Yes. He seems more nervous these past few days. Hesitant. He tries to hide it, and hides it fairly well, but…” She smiled. “...Not well enough.”

“Ah, yes,” her husband admitted. “I’ve been noticing that too.”

 _Whatever you say_. She picked up her glass and took another sip.

“What do you think it means?” Her husband asked her.

She put her glass on the table and crossed her legs.

“I believe it means…” she said ever so patiently, “...that our Minho may be seeing someone.” She waited for a response from her husband, but received none. “And now, he asks if he can stay the night over at someone’s house.”

Her husband finally perked up, realizing what his wife was insinuating. “You don’t mean--?”

“I don’t know.” She stated. She smiled again, showing her perfectly aligned teeth, a trait she passed onto her son. She tapped the arm of her couch with her long, bony fingers.

“And you’re okay with this?” Her husband asked her, clearly becoming more agitated and angry at the prospect of _their_ son sneaking off to do something so… obscene.

Admittedly, the idea of it made her slightly uncomfortable. She was brought up with the idea of abstinence before marriage, literally beaten into her head by her cruel unforgiving parents. _If I didn’t follow tradition, how can I expect my son to do the same?_

“...We live in different times,” she said finally. “Children these days are much more open about these sorts of things. Perhaps we should be too.” She made a small laugh. “Besides, if I try to stop him, he’ll find out a way to sneak away anyways.” _Just like us._

She picked up her glass of mango juice again and swirled the contents around in her cup.

“I only hope I get to meet her soon.” She wondered if the girl Minho was seeing was Brenda. That girl was fairly attractive. She had a good head on her shoulders. They were both Runners, so that meant they spent a fair amount of time in each other’s presence. It had to be her. Mrs. Youn grinned to herself once more. _It has to be her…_

  
  


The next day went by as normally as it could have for Thomas. Today his desk had chewed gum stuck underneath it. It wasn’t too bad he supposed, but he found it sad that this sort of treatment had become the ‘norm’ from him. When he went to his locker, he found that the outside was crawling with ants. He touched his locker. It was sticky. Someone must’ve mixed a sugary concoction and slathered it all over his school locker. _How incredibly annoying_. He was sure the school must be aware of the treatment he, Teresa and Chuck have been receiving. He supposed not even the school cared about them. He briefly considered going in and telling his teacher… or maybe a counsellor about their predicament. But, the more he thought about it, the surer he was that it wouldn’t amount to anything. If they cared… they would’ve done something by now. He hoped Chuck was doing okay. He knew the boy was sensitive to these kinds of things.

The day drifted on by without too much trouble. When school was finally over he found Teresa waiting for him by the school gate. He didn’t get to see Minho at all today, which sucked. Oh well. At least he’d be able to be with him for the weekend.

“Ready?” Teresa said, as Thomas approached her.

“Yea yea,” he replied, looking around the area. “Where’s Chuck?”

“He said he was going to meet us at the park,” she said as she turned around and walked, expecting Thomas to follow her.

“The park?”

“Yea, we’re playing Tumbleweed there,” she stated as she continued to walk, not bothering to look at Thomas, her eyes focused on what was in front of her. Thomas walked silently behind her for about a minute before he spoke.

“...You okay?” He asked.

“No.” She stopped. She spun around to face Thomas, clearly agitated about something. “My locker.”

Thomas nodded his head. “You too right?”

Teresa sighed. “Yea. It was a hassle cleaning that up. Then I got in trouble.”

“Trouble? For what?” Teresa didn’t say anything, and looked to the side. “... You didn’t…”

“Well, some… _guy_ was laughing at me when he saw me wiping down my locker. I thought he did it so I…” Thomas watched as Teresa clenched her fists. “Let’s just say I have detention tomorrow.” Teresa began to walk again, not waiting for Thomas’s reply.

“You know, you really need to stop picking fights every time you get angry,” Thomas said, lagging a few steps behind his friend.

“Yes mom.”

“Hah, you’re so funny.” Thomas dipped his hands into his pockets. “But, really though.”

When they finally reached the park, they spotted Chuck almost immediately, sitting alone on a bench, completely motionless, staring into something in the distance. The two friends approached the lone, curly haired boy, who seemed to snap back into reality when they were a short distance away from him.

Thomas smiled and waved at him. Immediately, the younger boy perked up and waved back. _He doesn’t seem too distraught today. That’s good._

“Hey Chuck,” Thomas said.

“Hi.”

“You ready?” Teresa asked. _Getting straight to business I see_. Despite the bluntness of her question, her face was surprisingly gentle.

“Mhm,” Chuck hummed, nodding his head. He held his head up high and was actually smiling. He seemed to be a lot more confident in himself today. It was a nice change, especially considering how hard he had been taking the hate from Wicked. It made Thomas proud… to see him like this.

But the boy’s confidence didn’t last very long. After Teresa explained the rules of the game, the color faded from Chuck’s face. And when he actually had to play the game, with Teresa as his opponent…

The first round ended almost immediately. Thomas stood from the sideline and folded his arms together, squeezing his hands under his armpits. He yelled out a few words of encouragement for his younger friend, which elicited no physical response. _Breathe Chuck. You can do this._ The next ended just as quickly as the first. And the last round ended in a surrender, with Chuck on his knees, red faced, and… emotional. The moment Chuck plopped on the ground, Thomas stepped in. Before he could run up and offer support, Teresa was already there, with her hand on Chuck’s back.

“Hey… hey Chuck,” she said rubbing his back. “It’s okay. It’s a hard game to learn, so don’t beat yourself over it.” By the time Teresa finished her sentence, Thomas was already crouching down next to Chuck. He placed his hand on the boy’s shoulder.

“Yea Chuck, it’s all good,” Thomas said in his attempt to reassure him.

“...” Chuck’s mouth twitched. “You guys just don’t get it.” He shook off both Thomas and Teresa’s hands, and scurried a few paces away from them. The boy was covered in dirt, and his face was redder than ever. “You don’t get it!”

Thomas swallowed. “...Get what Chuck?”

“It’s not just this,” Chuck said, his mouth quivering, and his voice cracking. “I can’t do anything. Anything! I’m not like you guys! I wasn’t born with anything special! Nobody notices me or remembers me! And one day you guys will forget about me too!”

And then he cried. His head drooped low, and he turned away, his back facing the other two. It was a silent, almost unnoticeable cry. His voice hicked. It sounded like he was biting his tongue to stop himself from making any noise.

The next hour was possibly the longest hour Thomas experienced that school year. Both Thomas and Teresa did their best to calm Chuck down. It was surprisingly easy. Chuck seemed to swallow his tears on his own. The hardest part was what came after. There was a terrible awkwardness in the air after Chuck returned to relative normalness. Thomas had no idea what to say or do. Anything he said to the boy seemed to slide off of him. Teresa eventually stopped trying to cheer him up, realizing that anything she did seemed to be in vain. So for the next hour or so, they walked around the park in relative silence. They bought ice cream that was also eaten in relative silence. Man, if only he could speak to Teresa mentally. This silence unnerved him. And he didn’t want to talk to Teresa and ignore Chuck, especially after what he said.

At some point, it was Teresa who finally broke the silence. The trio was walking the perimeter of the park when she spoke.

“You don’t have to do it you know.” She stopped and looked at the boy for a reaction. When he gave none, she continued. “Me and Tom can handle the Gladers. You don’t have to face them next week if you don’t feel like it. It’s whatever.” Again, Chuck didn’t respond. Teresa shrugged her shoulders. _At least you tried._

“...No.”

Thomas looked at the younger boy, surprised to hear his voice.

Chuck kicked the earth underneath him. “I’m sorry for earlier.”

“Hey, it’s all good,” Thomas said with a fake laugh, in his attempt to relieve the awkwardness.

“I want to help. Really. But I just…” Chuck scratched the top of his head. “I’m just frustrated. I can never do anything right. And don’t say that ain’t true ‘cause it is. Even my parents say so.”

And that’s when Chuck spilled the beans. Frankly, it was amazing how a person was able to tell their entire life story in less than five minutes. Chuck was apparently the younger brother of a genius child. His whole life Chuck had been trying to get his parents’ attention, but was always forgotten in favor for their older, prodigious brother. So, Chuck tried to get the attention of his peers, but he ended up failing in that department too. Everyone thought Chuck was trying too hard… and in the end, he was ostracized both at home and at school. In fact, the only reason why he was in their school was because his parents thought that the rigorous academics the school was known for would change Chuck to be more like his over achieving brother.

“And that’s why--” Chuck wheezed, clearly out of breath from talking so fast. “That’s why I want to help you guys. It’s… It’s the least I can do. For noticing me.”

“What? No, don’t be ridiculous,” Thomas said. “You owe us nothing Chuck.”

Chuck shook his head furiously. “No, I owe you everything. So I’m going to help.” He smiled at them. It was one of his outrageously huge smiles that Thomas remembered seeing his first week of school. It’s been a while since he last saw Chuck this genuinely happy. “Can we practice tomorrow? I won’t get frustrated this time. Promise.”

Teresa smiled. “Of course.”

Chuck beamed. “Thank you!”

“Remember though,” Teresa said, her voice becoming serious all of a sudden. “You don’t _need_ to do this. If at any time you change your mind and you don’t want to help us, it’s okay. Kay?” Chuck nodded his head.

The trio hung around with each other for another thirty minutes before Chuck had to go, leaving Thomas alone with Teresa at the park. Since Thomas had nothing else to do for another half an hour before his mom came, he wondered if he should call Minho and see if he was free to hang. _Probably not though… He’s probably too busy hanging with his friends or doing work or something._ He mentally sighed. Even if the athlete was free, he didn’t think he should leave Teresa alone anyways. She’d nag him for ditching her.

“Hey Tom,” Teresa said all of a sudden.

“Hm?”

“You know the same goes for you too.”

“...What?”

Teresa sighed. “This challenge. You don’t have to do it either you know.”

Thomas squinted at her. “Excuse me?”

“I mean this was my fight to begin with.” She shrugged. “Dunno, I just feel bad for getting you mixed up in this.”

“Damn, when’d you get so sappy?” Thomas said with a smirk.

“Well excuse me for giving a fuck,” she scoffed. She playfully punched Thomas’s shoulder, laughing as she did. “I’m just worried. I mean, what’re you gonna do about Minho?”

Thomas’s smile slowly faded. “I don’t… really know.” He crossed his arms and hummed. After that moment they had the other day, Thomas was sure that they wouldn’t let this ‘challenge’ come between them. But the more he thought about it, the more he began to doubt himself. It was easy to say that they’d stay together no matter what happened. But words are wind. Thomas couldn’t imagine things going back to normal again after this challenge was over.

“Maybe you should just sit this one out. I can handle it myself.” She ran her fingers through her long, black hair. “Plus I got Chuck.”

“‘Sit this one out’ huh?” He said with a sigh. “You know… you would’ve given me hell for wussing out of something like this back then.”

“I still would,” she agreed. “Me, you, and Aris… it was all for one and one for all between the three of us.” She paused, as if she was relishing the memory before continuing. “But this is different. What’re you going to do if you win? I’m not sure how ruining your boyfriend’s image is gonna help you… stay together.”

“Nono, we talked about it. It’s okay, he understands,” Thomas said, more for his own reassurance than for her. Teresa looked at him. It was clear that she had more to say on the matter, but instead of pushing Thomas further, she looked to the side and sighed.

“If you say so.”

The two of them continued to walk together for the next thirty minutes, talking about whatever the conversation led to. They eventually made their way back to the school. Thomas sat on the sidewalk and Teresa plopped down next to him, waiting with Thomas for his mom to come pick him up.

“You don’t have to wait with me you know,” Thomas said, glancing at his friend. “It might take a while. You should just go home.”

Teresa made a sarcastic laugh. “What, and leave my prince here undefended?” She scoffed.

“Hah, ‘prince’. Does that make you my knight in shining armor then?”

Teresa squinted at him. “Why do you have to say it like that. You make it sound like we’re together.” She shivered, and muttered a “gross,” purposefully loud, so that he could hear.

Thomas laughed. “You know… if I was straight… do you think that we’d--”

“No. Not ever," she said immediately. Thomas looked at her with an exaggerated face full of hurt.

“Thanks Tes.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know how I said how I'd have the new update ready in a few days in my last chapter? HAH I lied. Sorry about that. Sorry for my incredibly long updates... it must be super frustrating having to put up with it, so thank you all for doing so... I really appreciate it :)
> 
> If you're wondering why I havent updated sooner... I hate to say this but, the truth is, I don't really have a good reason. Everytime I try sitting down to write this, my mind is at a complete blank. I know what's going to happen but I just... idk. My motivation is seriously going downhill. I just dont feel the same drive, than I did back then. So sorry if this chapter just isnt up to par with the first few (most of this was me forcing myself to sit on a computer and write it haha). But worry not friends! I still plan on finishing this. After all, I outlined the entire plot and chapters :D
> 
> This fic is planned to run for 21 chapters total. Which means we're about halfway done. Of course, things may change along the way. I may decide that some things should be cut, or some things should be added... But 21 chapters is the number for now.
> 
> Many thanks for mewufeo for putting up with my constant questions about Korean culture!! She makes super cute Thominho pics on her tumblr page (mewufeo.tumblr.com) so check her out! Plus she's super approachable, so go and talk to her LOL.  
> And of course, a big thank you for my beta itslivinginadream! You always give me such nice feedback and you're super cool to talk to :D
> 
> The next chapter will be a heavy Thominho chapter. It's basically their 'date'. At Thomas's house.
> 
> And after that will be The Challenge. 
> 
> As usual, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING! If you have any questions, comments, concerns... complaints or whatever at all do tell me. Feedback is great!

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I hope you like it... tell me if Im doing something wrong, or if Im doing something right because I honestly have no idea what im doing and im just trying to satisfy my need for Thominho ahfdslkjfds
> 
> If you wanna contact me or whatever my personal tumblr is daenseu.tumblr.com  
> My writing blog (that I just made) is dodonerys.tumblr.com
> 
> Thanks again!


End file.
